


The Holiday

by Seagreen27



Category: Supernatural, The Holiday (2006)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Romantic Comedy, Anxiety Attacks, Artist Castiel, Bisexual Sam Winchester, But the rest is generally light and fluffy!, Castiel goes to the UK, Chapter 8 gets a bit dark, Christmas Fluff, Destiel - Freeform, Flashbacks, Flashbacks to the night Jess dies, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Lawyer Sam, M/M, Panic Attacks, Photographer Dean, Sabriel - Freeform, Sam & Castiel house swap for the Holidays, Sam & Dean live in England, Sam goes to LA, The Holiday crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-02-28 01:02:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 36,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2713202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seagreen27/pseuds/Seagreen27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a bad break up, artist Castiel wants to get away from LA for the Holidays, and remembers that his Agent did a house swap the Christmas before. He does an internet search and finds the perfect cottage in Derbyshire, UK, owned and listed by Sam Winchester, who has his own reasons for not wanting to be at home over Christmas. They agree to swap houses for the holidays, hoping to get away from bad memories at home. Castiel soon meets Dean Winchester, Sam's very attractive older brother, and Sam meets Gabriel, a colleague of Cas' ex. </p><p>Can these new friends cause them to forget the bad memories they are both running away from? What will happen when Christmas is over and they have to return to their old lives?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Castiel

**Author's Note:**

> This is a re-imagining of the 2006 film The Holiday with your favorite Supernatural characters taking the lead roles. If you have seen the film you will see that I am changing some details (like two M/M couples rather than two M/F couples!), so I am more taking the idea of a house swap at Christmas and re-working it for some Destiel and Sabriel fluff! It shouldn't matter if you haven't seen the film (although you should watch it at some point if you love rom com Christmas movies)
> 
> Dean and Sam are American but living in the UK (John moved there after Mary died, more details later in the fic)
> 
> Unbeta'd, so all mistakes are my own, and none of the characters etc belong to me. Please feel free to leave constructive feedback!

Castiel threw a bundle of Balthazar’s clothes out of the window, and into the waiting azure swimming pool below. He was silent in his anger, lips sealed so tightly they were turning white. Balthazar was pacing the bedroom behind him, not even bothering to try and stop him.

 

“It was a one-time thing, I promise” Balthazar pleaded as he walked swiftly from one side of the room to the other, not able to stay still in his agitation. Castiel watched the clothes floating on the surface of the water, wishing he was down there with them, rather than feeling cramped and oppressed up here, caged in by the sharp movements of the man behind him.

 

“Castiel, it didn’t mean anything. I love you” Balthazar had come right up behind Castiel without him realising, and he laid a hand on his shoulder. That was too much for Castiel, he whirled around, pushing the other man away roughly. He shouldered past him, moved swiftly out of the room and thundered down the stairs, making as much noise as possible to emphasis his words.

 

“How can you stand there and lie to me? ‘It doesn’t mean anything’, ‘it only happened once’. I know exactly how many times it happened, because your crazy lover decided to tell everything to a stranger in a bar, not realising that stranger was actually your long term boyfriend!” Balthazar had followed Castiel more slowly down the stairs, and as they reached the bottom, Castiel whirled and jabbed his finger in the other man’s chest.

 

“‘He’s so wonderful’, ‘he’s so attentive’, ‘I’ve never had so much sex in a 3 month relationship before’, ‘he wants to take me away, and I think he might want to propose’.” He made his voice higher in a mockery of the much younger man he had met in the bar the night before, ironically while waiting for Balthazar to finish work.

 

“Does that sound like a one-time thing that doesn’t mean anything to you?” Castiel dropped his hand away from Balthazar’s chest, and rubbed his face with it instead. As angry as he was for himself, he did also feel a bit sorry for the younger man in the bar. Balthazar had moved up behind Castiel in the bar last night, wrapping his arms around his waist and nuzzling into his neck. Castiel had seen the mouth of the young man sat opposite drop in shock, but had thought for a fleeting second he was just admiring the appearance of his boyfriend. It wasn’t until he whispered ‘Balt?’ in a broken whisper, that Castiel had put all of the pieces together. He had turned around quickly on his bar stool, causing Balthazar to take a step back from him.

 

“’Balt’?” He asked, with a raised eyebrow. A flash of guilt passed over the other man’s face, and that was all of the proof Castiel had needed. He stood, and made to move past his boyfriend and out of the bar, but he grabbed his arm.

  
“I can explain”

 

“I don’t want to hear it!” Castiel exclaimed, jerking his arm out of Balthazar’s grip and storming out.

 

It had been the following morning that Balthazar had turned up back at the house. By that point, Cas’ anger had turned from a hot burning rage, to a cold simmer of hurt and betrayal. He just wanted this man out of his house now, out of his life.

 

“I want you to leave”. Castiel said finally, lowering his hand.

 

“No Cassie, please…” Balthazar ran a hand through his blonde hair, rumpling it. Castiel used to love his hair, used to love running his hands through it as they sat together on the sofa. Now, all he could think of was someone else doing the same thing. A horrible thought occurred to him.

 

“Where were you last night?” He demanded suddenly. Balthazar shifted from foot to foot uneasily.

 

“You went back to him didn’t you? So, did he break up with you so you thought you’d come and see what you could salvage here, or did he agree to stay with you, so you thought you’d come round and see if you could sweet talk me so that you could carry on with your previous double life.” Castiel turned away, not needing to hear the answer knowing it wouldn’t make any difference really, just feeling a morbid curiosity.

 

“We broke things off Cassie, I’m all yours now”. Castiel whirled around and felt a sharp jab of anger bite through him again.

 

“It’s Castiel you bastard, and that means he wouldn’t take your sorry ass back. That means that you came here _second. That means_ that you would still be over there if he had let you.”

 

Balthazar just stood there and gaped at his (now clearly ex) boyfriend - seemingly finally stunned into silence - but whether this was because he couldn’t believe Castiel had worked this out, or through shock that he was going to come out of this whole mess with nothing and nobody, Castiel couldn’t be sure.

 

“I’m going to my studio. I’m locking the door, and in two hours I will be coming out again. I want you out of my house, and out of my life. Take your belongings with you. Anything you leave behind I will box and leave at the end of the drive way for you to collect. I cannot guarantee what state it will be in. And I never, _ever,_ want to see you again”. Castiel stood and glared into Balthazar’s face until he gave a reluctant nod. He gave a sharp nod in return, turned and stalked away down the corridor.

 

He flung open the white double doors to his studio, stormed through them and slammed them behind him. He turned and locked them behind him, pulling the key from the door and throwing it across the room. He slid down the doors and lent his forehead on his knees, letting his eyes drift shut. He felt all of the residual anger drain out of him in a rush, leaving only sadness that everything had changed in such a short amount of time. He felt a sudden desire to have a paintbrush in his hands, to get this emotion down onto canvas. He paused for a second more, before standing up and looking around his studio.

 

It had been added as an extension by the previous owner at the back of the house. It was a room the shape of a pentagon, with the base formed by the main house. The two side walls had floor to ceiling windows, and the two walls that formed the point had folding doors. The room also had a sloping glass roof, with concertina blinds covering it. Long white drapes flowed across each window and door, and would flap in the breeze when Castiel opened them up. There was so much light in the room even with all of the blinds and drapes that some days Castiel wore sunglasses in there. There were two desks that sat across the two windows, one which was covered in tubes of paint and paintbrushes, and one which held a desktop computer and some neatly stacked paperwork.

 

Three easels were placed carefully around the room so that Castiel could move a canvas from easel to easel should the light or impulse require it. It was always hot in his studio, and Castiel would often paint shirtless which had the dual benefit of allowing him to be slightly cooler, and avoiding him getting paint on his shirt. It always felt easier to wash it from his body then to try and get it out of material. Castiel removed his shirt now and flung it towards the door. He picked up a paintbrush, searching around for a tube of dark blue paint, and began to paint a stormy scene onto the blank canvas.

 

It was more than two hours later that he finally looked up. He realised the banging around that had been Balthazar packing his things had stopped some time ago. He found the key somewhere by one of the glass doors, unlocked the door and walked back into the main house. The house seemed unnaturally quiet now. Castiel was used to being in the house by himself as Balthazar had often travelled for work, often for days or sometimes for weeks at a time. But now that he knew that Balthazar would not suddenly be returning, the silence felt different, lonelier somehow. He walked slowly through each room in the house, noting where there were suddenly gaps as his ex-boyfriend had taken his belongings with him. He came to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before returning to the studio.

 

He flopped down on the chair in front of the computer. He thought about how the next few weeks and months would go, realising it was early December and he was facing a Christmas alone. He didn’t have many friends outside of Balthazar and his small circle, all of whom he was sure would side with his ex. He was sure his agent Pamela would take him in if he asked, but he didn’t really want to ask to join her, her husband and two children for Christmas. He did have a sudden thought though. The previous Christmas, Pamela had done some kind of house swap with a family from Italy, so she had gone to have Christmas in their farm house in Tuscany, and the family had travelled over and stayed in Pamela’s house here.

 

It sounded as if it had been a great success, and Castiel found himself wondering whether he could do something similar, whether there would be anything available at this late stage. Perhaps some time away, a change of scenery would help him. He would still be facing a Christmas alone, but at least he would be doing it without having to be in the house they had shared for the last three years. Perhaps not Italy though, languages had never been his strong point. As he turned on his ancient machine and waited for it to load, he was thinking about where he could go that spoke English. He smacked himself lightly on the forehead, exasperated by himself. How about England? He had always fancied going to see the rugged countryside he had seen so many paintings of, that featured in so much of his favourite literature.

 

As his web browser finally appeared, he did a quick search for house exchange websites. He came across a name that sounded familiar, and clicked on it in the hope it was the same site that Pamela had used. He did a search for available properties in England, and scrolled through the results, dismissing anything in London. He didn’t want to see the tourist sights, to feel lonely in amongst crowds of people. He finally came across a beautiful looking cottage covered in roses, with rolling hills in the background. The cottage was located in Derbyshire, and Castiel grinned. That was Mr Darcy country. He could take long walks across the rolling hills and pretend to be a character out of a Jane Austin or Charlotte Bronte novel.

 

He opened up the chat window, and typed out his request, then sat chewing his nails nervously whilst he waited for a reply.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will mainly alternate between Castiel and Sam's POV (Or between Destiel / Sabriel if you prefer!)
> 
> This chapter is mainly setting up the story from Cas' point of view, Dean will be in Cas' next chapter! Sammy's chapter first though.
> 
> I'm Seagreen27 on Tumblr and @spn_sea_green on Twitter, come follow me!
> 
> Would love to receive positive or constructive comments.


	2. Sam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Sam's POV, and gives the reasons why he wants to get away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it gets a bit sad, it will get more rom-com I promise!
> 
> Thank you to all that have read / left kudos so far. I'm nearly done on chapter 3 so hope to post more tomorrow!

Sam stood at the bar, looking around his firms Christmas party and sighed. He really wasn’t in the mood for this. He wasn’t enjoying being surrounded by other lawyers and paralegals, even if he was one of them. He wished they’d been allowed to bring other people along, so that he could have brought his brother with him. But the company was paying, which meant it was their rules, and their rules were that this was a staff only event. He ordered a whisky from the man behind the bar before moving to one of the empty large round table and slumping into a chair.

It wasn’t really Dean he wanted to have been able to invite to the party of course. He imagined Jessica spending weeks looking for the perfect dress, before going back and buying the first one he had pointed out to her. She would have got her hair done in the way she always did for formal events, blonde hair spiralled up and pinned into the back of her head, showing off her beautiful neck. He would have wrapped his arms around her waist and bent down to kiss that neck, murmuring into her ear about how beautiful she looked. They would have got tipsy together, bouncing jokes and snarky comments about his colleagues between themselves as they got caught up in a miniature world all of their own.

For the first year after Jess had died in that car crash, Sam had tried to think about her as little as possible. It didn’t work of course, and he ended up like a boiling pot, thoughts of Jess simmering under the surface all of the time, and then occasionally they would boil over and Sam would be cast into a fit of depression that neither he nor Dean could pull him out of. He would struggle to leave the house for days or weeks at a time. He struggled to sleep or doing nothing but sleep, watching TV and reading to distract himself, or not being able to concentrate long enough to do either, unable to find any balance. He had tried medication, but this had left him functional but not feeling, able to go to work but unable to empathise with his client which was such a core part of what made him so good at what he did. Work had fortunately been very understanding and supported him through the year, but he had decided that it couldn’t go on.

It had been a very gradual process, but the second year had begun to feel easier. He allowed himself to think about her, spoke to her sometimes in his head, imagined what she would have done in certain situations, like tonight. He began to feel more level and less like he was about to boil over. He had gradually been able to integrate himself back into society, had begun to attend social events again. The constant ache never went away, but it got easier to bear. He finished his whisky and looked around the room. Nobody would miss him if he snuck away now; most of the room was drunk from the free bar. He hadn’t drunk much, despite the temptation. He had learnt the hard way that burying his pain in alcohol did nothing but exacerbate it.

He pulled up outside of the dark house and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He looked at the house through the car windscreen for a long moment, feeling the same twinge he always did as he looked at the rose-covered cottage. He and Jessica had bought this house when they both got their first job after finishing their law degrees. She had found it online, and gone to see it without him first. When they went back for a second time, she had looked so ecstatic as she had told him where all of their current and future furniture would go that there was no way he could refuse, and had told the estate agent then and there that they would take it. He grew to love the place as much as she did, with its original fireplaces and low beams in the bedroom that he still banged his head on at least four times a day. He couldn’t bear to sell it and move after she died, but it was still painful every time he pulled up outside.

He got out of the car, unlocked the front door and walked into the house, savouring the quiet after the noise of the party. He went into the kitchen and turned the coffee machine on, sat down at the small table and pulled his laptop towards him whilst the coffee began to percolate behind him.

He was surprised to see a number of messages waiting for him on the chat function of the house swap website he had signed up to on a whim a couple of months back. He hadn’t had any responses, and so had dismissed the idea and forgotten about it until now. He opened the chat window and read:

**Trenchcoat_76:** Hello, I was wondering if you were still interested in doing a house swap? I am looking to get a change of scenery over Christmas. I know it is a long shot but wondered if you would be interested.

Sam could see that the original message had been sent over an hour ago. About ten minutes ago there was a further message

**Trenchcoat_76:** Never mind, sorry to bother you. It was probably a stupid idea anyway.

There was a green dot hovering above the username indicating that the other person was still online, so Sam thought about it for a few moments before sending a quick message back.

**Sasquatch_30:** Hello are you still there? I would be interested in doing a house swap over Christmas if you still wanted too.

Sam rested his hands in front of the laptop, thinking hard. As much as he loved it, a Christmas away from this cottage sounded wonderful. He wondered where the other person lived. He was happy to travel, and there were not many places in the world he did not want to see. Dean would probably be upset, but he had other things to occupy his time, and was always going on at him to get out more.  Another bing from his laptop notified him of a new message

**Trenchcoat_76:** I’m here. I’m definitely interested. When would you be free to travel? I would love to be able to get out of here as soon as possible.

Sam thought about his work diary. His boss had been telling him to take some time off. He had been reluctant to take any after all of the time off that he’d had last year, but he was due some paid holiday. He didn’t have anything in his diary before Christmas that he couldn’t get out of, and he could always access his emails and work away from the office if he needed to. He was sure wherever this person lived that they would have Wi-Fi. Before he could change his mind he quickly typed

**Sasquatch_30:** How about this weekend? Is that too soon? Where are you by the way?

Sam got up to make his coffee, now slightly nervous about the response. He shut his eyes as his laptop notified him of a new message, and had to take a deep breath before he could open them again.

**Trenchcoat_76:** This weekend sounds perfect. I’ll let you know my flight details once booked. Sorry, forgot to tell you where I live. I’m in LA.

Sam’s mouth dropped open and he threw his hands in the air as he re-read the message.

“I’m going to LA!” He yelled in excitement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be Castiel's POV as he arrives in Derbyshire, and meets Dean.
> 
> Hope you will carry on this journey with me.
> 
> As ever, extremely grateful for any kudos and comments and welcome constructive feedback.
> 
> Seagreen27 on Tumblr and @spn_sea_green on twitter


	3. Castiel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel arrives and settles into Sam's cottage in Derbyshire UK. He is suprised by a late night visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments so far.

Castiel pulled up outside the cottage and paid the cab driver. It had been a long car journey after a hideously long plane journey, but at least he had splurged and gone first class so had been able to get some sleep. He wanted nothing more now than a good hot shower and a cup of coffee. He staggered with his suitcase down the short pathway to the front door, and found the key under the flowerpot that Sam had directed him too. They’d had a long conversation yesterday, working out the details when they had agreed that this was going to actually happen. Sam had seemed so nice, he’d thought it was a shame that they wouldn’t actually get to meet.

Castiel opened the front door and stepped inside the cottage for the first time. He walked into a red carpeted hallway, with a dark wood table standing underneath a mirror with some mail on top of it. There were two rooms off of the hallway, one to a small lounge with a very comfortable looking leather sofa, and a high backed chair in a vibrant green. The other door led to a kitchen with exposed wooden beams and a range cooker, a small table in the middle of the room. Part of Castiel wondered where the rest of the place was, he would fit the whole cottage into his kitchen back home. A much larger part sighed in contentment, this was the change of pace he needed, and he didn’t really need more space than was here.

He quickly located the coffee machine, coffee and a mug, and left it to percolate whilst he went to explore upstairs. The red carpet continued up the stairs and into a small hallway with three doors leading from it. Over the lounge was the master bedroom, with a king size bed squeezed in next to a small white closet and bureau. Looking at the small amount of storage, Castiel was glad that he had left most of his clothes at home. He backed out of the room, and into the next, which was much smaller with just a desk and a single bed in it. The final room was a tiny bathroom. Castiel wasn’t sure whether to be please or disappointed when he realised that there wasn’t a shower, just a claw footed bath with a shower attachment on the taps. He shrugged his shoulders, and started to run a bath.

Ten minutes later, as he sank down into the warm water with a cup of coffee in one hand, he appreciated the bath over the shower. A sense of peace swelled and broke over him as he lay there, for the first time since he had been in the bar waiting to meet Balthazar.

The following morning, Castiel took down the maps of the local area from the bookcases in the lounge, and plotted a route based on the advice that Sam had given him over the phone. He drove for a couple of miles, and then pulled into a small car park. He started to follow a well worn path through a forest, thinking to himself that this wasn’t quite what he had expected or imagined when he thought about walking in Derbyshire. It was nice to walk amongst trees that weren’t palm trees though. The trees were mainly bare, allowing more light to the ground then there would be in summer, weak winter sunshine just about struggling to illuminate the path, and Castiel was often crunching through leaves beneath his feet. He restrained a childish urge to run, and jump and stomp his way through the piles of leaves just off the path, but it was a close run thing.

The path got steeper, and even though he ran every day at home, his route was usually flat so he found himself getting warmer and starting to get slightly out of breath. He removed the beige trench coat he had brought with him, and wrapped it around his waist.

He caught his breath and came to a halt as he reached the top of the hill and the edge of the trees. Just ahead of him were the rolling peaks he had seen in films and read about so many times. Some were rocky and some were covered in grass. The range of colours he could see was astounding, and had his hand itching for a paint brush. Some of the peaks were just varying shades of brown (gold, ochre, acorn and tan, his painters brain supplied), whereas others were shades of green (moss, fern, acacia), and still more had smatterings of purple (plum, dusk, and lilac) in amongst the other colours, from the heather that was still clinging to life as winter started to get its claws into the country side.

The sun was peeking out from behind a grey cloud, and he could see individual sun beams falling onto the top of the peaks, illuminating them and making them glow. In one of the valleys he could see a small river shimmering, and in another sheep were grazing, looking like little fluffy clouds had just fallen from the sky and landed there. It was possibly the most beautiful landscape he had ever seen. He had a strong desire to walk, to run towards it and amongst it, and so he did, starting to jog over the peak he was currently on and down into the valley below. He flung his arms out and did a twirl on the way down, not sure if he was channelling Maria from the Sound of Music, or Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, but he was beyond caring at this point.

As he reached the crest of the next hill, he felt the wind blow more strongly, and pulled his coat back on. He loved the feeling of it spreading out behind him, feeling as if he could jump from the top of this rock and soar with his trench coat wings over the ground below him.

 

   

He couldn’t wait to get some painting supplies and come back here, to get what he was seeing down on paper or canvas. Sam had told him that the local shops shut around 5pm, and so after Castiel had checked his watch and found it was already after midday, he turned away from the wonderful view regretfully, and made his way back to the car.

It was early evening by the time he returned to the cottage, having been into the local village for both art and food supplies. He had been charmed by the tiny supermarket despite a very limited range compared to what he would get at home, and had been delighted when he came across a tiny little shop selling art supplies. He had been chatting with the owner who had welcomed a fellow artist from across the pond, and had recommended a number of brands for his paint and brushes, and had helped him to the car with the large canvasses he had purchased.

Castiel sat at the table after eating dinner and washing up, wondering what to do now. He wished he was able to go back into the hills, but knew it would be suicide to try and walk through that forest in the dark. It didn’t feel the same painting that wonderful view from memory. He eyed the blank canvasses stacked neatly against a wall wistfully, but decided that painting would have to wait. He spent the next couple of hours going from room to room, unable to settle to anything for longer than a few minutes, but unsure of why. He felt distracted and slightly bored, although he felt faintly guilty at feeling that way in such pleasant surroundings. He chose a DVD at random from Sam’s selection and put it into the DVD player. He settled down into the comfy leather sofa, and it wasn’t long before he began to doze.

He was rudely awoken by a drawling voice.

“You’re not my brother”, the voice said loudly. Castiel stumbled into wakefulness, momentarily confused about where he was. He peered at the man standing at the end of the couch, rubbing his eyes in the hope that he might be able to see more clearly. Nope, the man standing there was still the most beautiful man he had ever seen. He was tall, wearing a leather jacket over a green plaid shirt and black t-shirt, paired with black jeans and heavy boots. He had piercing green eyes, which Castiel hadn’t even realised was a thing until this moment. He realised he was babbling in his own head and told himself to shut up.

“You’re not English” He commented, then realised this was a stupid thing to say to a man who suddenly appeared in the house he was currently staying in – to a man who could be anybody, and could be here to do anything to him. He certainly wanted this man to do anything to him. ‘Shut up brain’ Castiel thought to himself.

“Well aint you as bright as a brass button” Dean smirked at him and said sarcastically.

“Now where’s Sammy hiding? Or has my brother been hiding a new boyfriend from me?” Dean raised one eyebrow and looked Castiel up and down as he sat up on the sofa, trying in vain to finger comb his hair into some kind of order.

“You’re Sam’s brother? You must be Dean!” Castiel said with relief, standing off the sofa and offering his hand for the other man to shake. They shook hands, and Cas peered up at Dean to get a better look at his eyes from close up. He realised he was staring and had been holding on for a second too long, so he took a step back and blushed slightly.

“And you are?” Dean asked again, starting to look slightly impatient now.

“I’m Castiel, Castiel Novak. Sam’s not here right now. Did he really not tell you?” Dean shook his head, frowning.

“I guess it must have slipped his mind in amongst all of the other arrangements. See, I saw Sam’s advert on a house swap website, and I needed to get away, I’ve just been through a bad break up, so I got in contact with Sam, and we’ve swapped houses, swapped lives, until just after Christmas.”

Dean’s frown deepened.

“Ok, I am way too drunk to be dealing with this right now. I don’t mean to sound like a dick, but do you have any kind of proof?”

“You could ring Sam, it’s only…” Castiel checked his watch “5pm in LA”

“Are you really trying to tell me that my brother, the one who almost became a hermit last year, has jetted off to LA without telling me?” Castiel could only nod mutely. Dean huffed, and stalked out into the kitchen, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. Castiel didn’t mean to listen in on Dean’s half of the conversation, but it was difficult not too in such a tiny space.

“Sam! Please tell me that you really are in LA and that the man in your house hasn’t actually killed you and buried your body somewhere in the moors?”

“Well, I’m glad you’re still alive, but I might kill you myself for going away without telling me. And you’re going to miss Christmas too.”

“Yes I know”

“Is the place nice?”

“Oh an artist, really?” Dean peered his head round the door and saw Castiel watching. He met his eyes and winked, before moving out of the doorway again.

“I’d better go and be charming to your guest then”

“Don’t worry, I will”.

Dean smirked at Castiel as he walked back into the room, apparently forgiving him for being a strange man in his brother’s house.

“So, Cas…” Castiel wanted to correct him, but decided it was still a better nick name then the one Balthazar and his other friends had given him, so let it slide.

“I’m sorry for all of the confusion. See, I tend to go out for a few drinks sometimes on the weekend, and when I have so many I can’t drive my Baby home, I leave her safe and sound in the village. I wander up here to crash on my brother’s couch, or that tiny bed in the spare room, whichever I fall into first. He then feeds me coffee in the morning and sends me on my way. So you can imagine my surprise to come in and find that someone I don’t know is napping in my crash spot.” Dean smiled charmingly, and continued “So, do you mind if I do?” Castiel tilted his head, feeling confused.

“Do I mind if you, what?”

“Crash here? I swear I won’t bother you, and I’ll be out of your hair by morning”. Castiel wanted to say yes immediately, wanted to invite him to share the king size bed upstairs too, but supressed the urge whilst a small part wondered what the hell was happening. He never fell for someone this quickly. But the charming smile, beautiful green eyes and unexpected American accent seemed to be doing something to him that he hadn’t experienced before. To cover up his discomfort, and to break the silence that was lingering on, he replied;

“Yes, I wouldn’t want to turn Sam’s brother away from his house. You are welcome to stay on the couch, or the guest bed upstairs. You could even take the master if you want.” Dean quirked an eyebrow at him, and Castiel added hurriedly “and I would sleep down here of course”.

Dean smiled at him.

“Thanks Man, I appreciate it. You take the master, and I’ll take the couch. I swear I’ll be out of your way first thing in the morning. I’m sorry to hear about your break up by the way. Was it a long term thing you had with your girlfriend?” Dean said, throwing in the last bit in a rush. Now it was Castiel’s turn to smirk, understanding the game well enough to know that Dean was fishing for information.

“Balthazar and I had been together for five years, but he cheated on me and I find out because I met his lover in a bar who told me about the amazing sex he’d been having with my boyfriend for the last three months.” Castiel was amazed at how calmly he managed state this. Dean looked a little uncomfortable, and rubbed his hand around the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Ouch, that’s kinda harsh. Sorry dude. Still, if it’s any consolation, it sounds like the guy was a dick.”

“Thanks”. Castiel yawned hugely, surprised that he felt tired at all given his nap and the fact that it was only afternoon back home.

“I’m going to head to bed.” Castiel walked towards the stairs, skirting carefully around Dean. He stopped before he could climb the stairs as a thought struck him.

“Erm, I don’t know where there are any spare blankets or pillows or anything” he said, looking back into the room where Dean had just sat down on the couch and started pulling off his boots.

“S’okay, I know where Sam keeps them. G’night Cas”.

“Good night Dean”. With that, Castiel turned away and walked up the stairs, resisting the urge to go and sit on the couch beside Dean as he went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me, hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> The pictures included are screen caps from the Pride & Prejudice move with Kiera Knightley. The pictures are of Elizabeth Bennett in the place where I imagined Castiel to be, but if you squint and ignore the skirts it could be Cas in his trench coat! Source for pics is here: http://prideandprejudice05.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/photos-p-filming-locations-updated.html
> 
> Sam's first chapter in LA coming next!
> 
> Tumblr: seagreen27 twitter: spn_sea_green


	4. Sam

Sam had rented a small red convertible and made the drive from the airport with the top down. As he drove down the palm-tree lined streets, he was only really keeping half an eye on where he was supposed to be going, as he craned his neck to see some of the sites he had only ever seen in movies. He enjoyed the warm breeze ruffling over his bare arms, glad that he had bought clothes to change into on the plane so that he wasn’t trying to make this drive in his winter clothes. He was also glad that he’d packed his sunglasses; his favorite pair of Ray Bans now perched on his nose.

He pulled up at the address which Castiel had given to him, stopping before a huge pair of gates. He drove up slowly, hoping they might be automatic and would just swing open for him, and frowned to himself when they didn’t. He parked the car, and stretched his legs as he got out. He wandered over to the control panel and looked in desperation for a button which said ‘open’. He tried the call button, but didn’t hold out any hope as he knew that the house was empty. Sam was just looking at his watch; trying to work out what time it was in the UK so that he could call Castiel, when another, larger car pulled up behind his.

A man got out of the driver’s seat, and sauntered over to Sam. He was much shorter than Sam, with light brown hair, sideburns and stubble. He was wearing a light brown jacket, despite of the heat, and it was making Sam feel warm just looking at it.

“Are you having problems with the gate?” The man asked, looking up at Sam and shielding his eyes.

“I’m staying here for a couple of weeks, but Castiel forgot to tell me how to open the gate!” Sam said, starting to get worried that he’d never get into the house and would have to turn around and go home again.

“Huh, that’s weird” the other man smirked at him. “Did he not give you one of these?” he pulled a small plastic tag on a key chain from his pocket and waved it at him. Sam just looked at it in confusion, so the other man reached around him and waved it in front of the key pad. The gates opened smoothly.

“Oh wait!” Sam exclaimed, returning to the car and pulling out an envelope he had collected from a left luggage counter at the airport. He opened it and pulled out a set of keys. Sure enough, attached to them was a small plastic disk that looked just like the one the other man had used to open the gates.

He walked back to the other man who had made no move to go through the gates, just stood there watching him with a small grin, which widened as Sam shook the keys at him.

“There you go! You’ve just gotta know what you’re looking for. I’m Gabriel by the way. I’m a colleague of Balthazar’s, he gave me his fob. He roped me in to picking up some of his stuff by promising to give me the daily quota of sweets out of his dressing room for a month” Gabriel walked through the gates, and spotted a pile of boxes.

“And I guess that’s what I’m here to collect!” Sam followed him through the gates, his head in a bit of a spin at all of this new information.

“So, Balthazar is Castiel’s ex-boyfriend, right?” Sam asked. Gabriel nodded.

“Yeah, he’s a bastard for what he did to Castiel, and I don’t like the guy much. But I’ve got a sweet tooth, and I figured I could help Castiel out by getting Balthazar’s stuff out of the way. So I feel less like I’m helping out a guy I don’t like, and more like I’m helping myself and a guy whose just had his heart broken out, you know?” Gabriel turned to look back at Sam.

“And you’re an actor?” Gabriel nodded. “Just small time stuff so far, but this film I’m in with Balthazar seems like it might be getting some traction.”

“I’ve not seen you in anything yet then?” Sam asked. The other man shook his head, slumping his shoulders and looking sad, but peering up through his hair playfully.

“So cutie, do you have a name to go along with that strange and yet gorgeous, British and yet also slightly American accent of yours?” Sam blushed, and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, looking away in embarrassment.

“I’m Sam”. Gabriel held out his hand, and Sam shook it.

“Hi Sam, great to meet you. Do you think you could move your little red corvette out of the way, then I can pull my car in here and load these boxes into the trunk? Then I can get out of your hair and let you actually see the house that you have come to stay in”. He jerked his head in the direction of the house, and Sam suddenly realized he hadn’t even noticed it, had been too involved in the conversation with the man in front of him. He looked down the drive now, and saw a beautiful, huge, white painted house, with verandas and shutters flung open at the windows. His mouth dropped in surprise.

“Welcome to LA Sammy!” Gabriel smirked. Sam thought about correcting Gabriel - he normally only let his brother call him Sammy, and that was what Jessica had always called him. He decided against it. He walked back to his car and got in, Gabriel following closely behind him. Gabriel leant his elbows on Sam’s door.

“If you need a tour guide, give me a call” he said, producing a business card and passing it over to Sam. Gabriel walked away as he was looking down. Sam started up the car, and pulled through the gate just enough to let Gabriel’s car also pass through behind him, before stopping and getting out again. Gabriel got out of his car and looked at him quizzically.

“And here I thought you were going to go without saying goodbye!”

“Nah” Sam replied. “I’m sure the house can wait for me for a few more minutes. I’ll help you shift the boxes”. Gabriel smiled at him, and nodded appreciatively. They worked in silence for the next few minutes. Sam was sure he felt Gabriel watching him as he added boxes to the trunk, although whenever he looked towards the other man, he was always looking away from him. Sam was flushed by the time they finished, and not just from the exertion. It had been a long time since he’d received such undivided attention from anyone, and even longer since it had come from a guy. It wasn’t as unwelcome as he had thought it might be. Sam wondered why this might be, and decided that it was being in the sunshine, in a whole other country, and knowing that he was leaving in two weeks, so it didn’t matter anyway.

Gabriel slammed the trunk lid down over the boxes, and Sam was sure he wasn’t imagining that he looked slightly regretful.

“I guess I’ll see you around then, Sammy-boy”.

“You’re welcome to come in for a drink?” The words were out of Sam’s mouth before he had a chance to think about them. Gabriel smiled appreciatively and shook his head.

“You look done in. Wouldn’t want you to pass out as we drink lemonade, I’d have no chance of lifting someone of your gigantic height. Besides, I prefer my men fully conscious and not jet lagged after a thirteen hour flight.” He laughed as Sam smiled self-consciously. “Do think about giving me a call though.” Sam nodded, and waved a goodbye as he headed towards the car. Part of him wanted to argue, wanted the sunshine of company to continue, but he suddenly felt as if it was the middle of the night, and wanted nothing more than to sleep. He watched as Gabriel carefully backed his car out, giving a final wave as he turned away.

He drove the rest of the way towards the house that would be his home for the next couple of weeks, still marveling at his luck. He did send a thought towards Castiel, hoping that the other man was getting on ok in his tiny cottage, which must seem like a dump compared to this place. He unlocked the front door and walked into a bright and airy lobby, with a white painted staircase and beige carpet winding its way up the stairs. As much as he longed to explore the house, he was starting to get concerned himself that he might just pass out if he tried, so he stumbled up the stairs. It took three tries to find the master bedroom, and four tries to work out which button closed the blinds. When the blackout blinds finally descended, Sam shrugged off his t-shirt and shorts, before he sank gladly into the mattress and was asleep within seconds.

When Sam awoke, he was completely confused about the time as the room was so dark. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was 5am, and he had slept for 13 hours. He flipped on the light, and properly took in the room he had just slept in. It was about double the size of his bedroom at home. Just off of the main room was a dressing room, leading to a shower room. As he walked through the dressing room and past the inbuilt closets he noted that Castiel seemed to have left the majority of his clothes behind. Sam grinned to himself as he imagined Castiel trying to cram everything in here into his tiny wardrobe.

He slowly began to navigate through the rest of the house. He found another two bedrooms upstairs, as well as a home gym. He padded softly downstairs. He came first to a formal dining room, the table laid up as if for a dinner party. He went back to the lobby and opened a door on the other side. He walked into a living room, with immaculate looking cream sofas, and a huge TV, surrounded by shelves upon shelves of DVD’s. Sam edged closer and the futuristic cinema system and surround sound came into view, leaving him feeling slightly intimidated.

Sam walked out of the room and towards the double doors that were at the back of the lobby. He opened one of the doors and edged inside. He flipped a light switch and gasped. The large, mainly glass room was now lit with glittering fairy lights which were hung over every window, and alongside some of the panels in the roof. The lights were a deep gold color that looked like candlelight. The way the light was reflected back into the room over the glass was beautiful, and Sam’s smile broadened as some of the lights began to flash and twinkle. It was at that point that Sam realized there were no Christmas decorations in the house, and thought back to his own tree-less cottage, wondering if Castiel had just not got round to it yet, or if like him, there were too many painful memories of hanging baubles with a lost love.

As he gazed around the room, he realized what the large wooden A frames were that were placed around the room. He moved closer and examined all the paints that had been left on one of the desks. Castiel must be an artist, he supposed. He thought about his photographer brother - who had always had a thing about color, their shades and names - and wondered if they would get a chance to meet. His stomach rumbled distractingly, and Sam suddenly thought that he hadn’t had anything to eat since he got off the plane yesterday.

He left the beautiful room and located the door to the kitchen. He looked around at the modern, glossy white kitchen, trying to find the refrigerator. He pulled it open hopefully, and smiled when he found milk, eggs, orange juice, yoghurt, and boxes of fruit inside. Sam briefly thought about making pancakes, which had always been his brothers’ go to breakfast food when on holiday, but decided to stick with the healthier option. He pulled out the yoghurt and fruit. He located a bowl and a glass, and put his breakfast together.

He took his bowl back into the room that was obviously Castiel’s studio. He sat in the chair in front of the table with all of the paint tubes on it, careful not to disturb anything. He ate his breakfast, thinking about how much Jessica would have loved this house. It was a happy thought rather than a melancholy one, but Sam still moved on to thinking about what he was going to do with his day. Castiel had told him there was a pool, which Sam was looking forward to trying out, and he could look up a good route to go for a run too. He could laze about with his kindle, or his laptop. He did briefly consider contacting Gabriel to see if he was available, but decided that today was for him, and he would ring the other man tomorrow. Sam sat in the studio for another hour and watched the sun rise through the panes of glass. He eventually got up and flicked all of the fairy lights off, and marveled at the luck that he must suddenly have, that Castiel chose to message him.

At about 5pm, Sam was just packing away the groceries he had picked up from the store, when his cell began to ring. He looked at who was calling and grimaced, realizing that in all of the excitement, he’d forgotten to let his older brother know what was going on.

“Hi Dean” he said carefully.

“Sam! Please tell me that you really are in LA and that the man in your house hasn’t actually killed you and buried your body somewhere in the moors?” Sam could tell from the way his brothers’ accent had deepened that he had been drinking tonight. He rubbed his eyes, concerned about the impression Dean was making on Castiel.

“I really am in LA Dean. I arranged a house swap with Castiel, who I assume you’ve met.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re still alive, but I might kill you myself for going away without telling me. And you’re going to miss Christmas too.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I did mean to call you, but I got caught up in all the excitement I guess. I’m sorry about Christmas, but you did keep telling me to get out into the world and do something different.”

“Yes, I know.” Dean huffed down the phone, before his tone brightened.

“Is the place nice?”

“It’s amazing Dean, you’d love it. Some of it looks like it’s out of a magazine, but you’d kill for the kitchen, there’s an amazing pool, and a gorgeous studio which has Cas’ painting stuff all over it”

“Oh, an artist, really?” Sam could hear Dean’s curiosity peak.

“I’d better go and be charming to your guest then” He knew that voice, that was Dean’s ‘I’m drunk and very flirty’ voice.

“Dean!” Sam said sternly, but playfully, “The guy’s just got out of a long term relationship. Don’t you dare make a move on my house guest!”

“Don’t worry, I will”.

“Dean!” Sam yelled down the phone, then realized that Dean had hung up on him.

“Jerk” he said, smiling to himself as he began to prepare dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for carrying on. Hope you enjoyed meeting Gabriel.
> 
> If you want to see pictures of what both houses looked like in the film The Holiday, this is a great site  
> http://hookedonhouses.net/2008/12/11/the-holiday-a-tale-of-two-houses  
> I have written some differences though!
> 
> Tumblr: Seagreen27 Twitter: spn_sea_green


	5. Cas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean makes Cas breakfast and goes with him back into the peaks to watch him paint. It is very fluffy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my Sis for reading through this chapter, was a bit worried as it is the longest chapter to date, but hopefully you'll enjoy it all.

Castiel woke the following morning to the smell of bacon cooking. He pulled on some sweat pants and an old t-shirt, then stumbled downstairs, yawning hugely. His body was still adjusting to the time difference. He walked into the kitchen, and eyed Dean who was wearing a green striped apron over yesterday’s clothes, as he stood in front of the stove with a pan each of bacon pancakes on the go. Dean turned around as Cas pulled a chair out at the table and slumped down into it, rubbing his eyes.

“Morning sleepy head. Looking good this morning, man that is some crazy bed hair!” Dean smiled across the kitchen at him, before turning, pulling down a mug and filling it with coffee. Cas blushed and tried to pat his hair down in to some semblance of order but he knew it was hopeless.

“You’re still here then” Castiel commented, staring down at the table until a hand came into his vision and left a mug of coffee there. Dean cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Yeah, I know I said I would be out of your apparently wild hair first thing, but I thought I would make you breakfast as an apology for waking you up and scaring you last night. I hope you like pancakes” Castiel smiled and nodded before taking a sip of his coffee.

“Thank you Dean. It is unexpected to have some company, but it is very nice.” Dean ducked his head and turned back to the bacon. They sat in a silence for the next few minutes which was surprisingly comfortable given that they didn’t know anything about each other, until Dean pushed a plate of breakfast towards Cas. He laid one on the table for himself, and dug in to the back of one of the cupboards.

"As you’re a guest, and a fellow American at that, we get the good maple syrup. Decent stuff is hard to get in this country, and there were a few times when we were kids that I would beg Dad to bring us some back from the US when he’d come back from his work trips.” Dean smothered his pancakes in the syrup, before passing the bottle over to Cas, who was a bit more restrained. They both dug into their pancakes, Cas putting the first bite into his mouth and groaned.

“These are so good.” Dean was looking at him a little wide eyed, so he grinned cheekily over at him.

“I will admit that I was quite surprised to hear a Texan lilt suddenly in this cottage, and for a second I really wasn’t sure where I was. Sam might have had a bit of an accent now that I think about it, but I didn’t pick it up that strongly when I spoke to him on the phone.” Dean nodded.

“We moved over when I was nine, and Sam was five. I’ve never really lost mine, although my brother tells me it gets worse after a few whiskeys. Sam completely went through school here though, so he picked up more from his friends and teachers then he did from me and Dad. He evens spells color with a U.” Castiel laughed.

“Terrible. Why did you move over here in the first place?” Cas almost regretted asking when a cloud passed over Dean’s face.

“My mom died a year or so before we moved over, in a house fire. We lived with my grandparents while my dad looked for another house, but he couldn’t bear to stay in the same area. He was in the army, so when an opportunity came up to move over here, he took it. We spent a few weeks every summer back with my grandparents and did a bit of travelling. But even after my Dad died, Sam and I decided to stay here; we had built our lives here, and didn’t have much to move back there for”.

“I’m so sorry Dean. I shouldn't have asked”. Dean shook his head, smiling slightly.

“You couldn't have known, and it’s a fair question. I don’t mind talking about it.” He continued to eat through his pancakes, before waving a fork suddenly at Cas.

“So what about you, Sam said you’re an artist?” Cas’ face lit up.

“Yes, I assume he must have found my studio as I don’t think it came up in conversation. I paint, watercolor on canvas mainly, but some acrylic and other modes sometimes. I take commissions, and paint portraits, but I love to paint landscapes. I bought all of that” – Cas indicated the stacked canvasses leaning against the wall – “so that I could go back up into the hills and get down all of the colors I saw up there yesterday.”

“It’s beautiful up there” Dean agreed. “I’m a photographer, so I’ve been up there so many times to take pictures. I love it in every season, but particularly in the summer. Maybe you’ll have to come back and see it then.” 

“What sort of photographer are you?” Cas asked, glossing over the implied invitation.

“I do all sorts, weddings, corporate, marketing, commissions. I also love taking landscapes, but I think my favorites are the baby shoots.” Cas raised an eyebrow and looked at him in amused surprise.

“What? Their always hilarious and the photos are always so cute.” Cas carried on looking at him, eyebrow raised and a small smirk on his lips.

“Oh shut up.” Dean laughed and ate the last mouthful of pancakes. Cas laughed, and unthinkingly ran a finger through the maple syrup left on his plate and licked it. He looked back at Dean who unconsciously ran his tongue over his lips, staring at the finger. Cas shuddered slightly and put his hand back on the table. ‘Man, I am in so much trouble’ he thought to himself.

Dean shook himself and looked back into Cas’ eyes with a smile.

“So Cas, what are your plans for today?”

Castiel remembered that Dean had said he would leave after breakfast, so they must be fast approaching that time. He must have things to do, but Cas still felt a bit sad at the idea of him leaving.

“I was planning on heading back into the hills with those” he nodded his head back towards the canvasses “and making the most of the light.”

Dean ran a hand through his hair, looking slightly awkward.

“I don’t suppose you want company do you? I’m free all day today, and I wouldn’t mind taking my camera and getting out there myself.” Cas gave Dean a wide smile.

“I would love for you to come with me. I normally paint alone, partly because I don’t want to bore anyone else as I can get a bit carried away. But if you’re going to take pictures at the same time, maybe you won’t mind?” Dean smiled and shook his head.

“I won’t mind. I’ll need an hour to go back and pick up my stuff and change clothes. One request though, do you mind if I drive?”

“That’s fine Dean.” Dean stood up, picking up both plates and placing them in the sink behind him.

“I guess I’ll see you in an hour then” Dean grinned, walked up to Cas and lent in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, leaving the house before Cas even had time to react.

Cas placed his arms on the table and leant his head into them. He let out a loud groan, talking out loud to himself to fill the sudden empty silence, voice slightly muffled as he spoke into his arms. “This isn’t what was supposed to happen. I was supposed to come over here, and have some time alone to get over my horrible, horrible break up. I was not supposed to meet a gorgeous guy. I was supposed to have my Elizabeth Bennett time on the peaks and enjoy being thoroughly miserable. He has me laughing, and smiling, and I’m not miserable at all. I’ve barely thought about Balthazar the whole time I’ve been here.”

“I could leave you alone to be miserable if you wanted.” Dean murmured from the doorway to the kitchen. Castiel nearly jumped out of his seat. He did stand and whirl round, causing the chair to crash to the floor. He blushed scarlet and bent over to pick it up.

“Why are you back? How much of that did you hear?” He was almost accusatory in his embarrassment, and Dean put out his hands in a soothing gesture.

“I realized as I walked out that my car key must have fallen out of my pocket at some point through the night, so I came back in. I was going to let you know I was here, but I was enjoying your monologue. I heard pretty much all of it by the way.” Dean was smirking at him, looking pretty pleased with himself.

“It’s rude to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations you know” Cas said, still feeling flustered in his embarrassment. Dean took a step forward and put a hand on each of Cas’ shoulders, forcing him to look up and make eye contact with him. ‘Those eyes’ Cas thought again.

“Sorry Cas, I should have told you I was there. In my defense, I’m not sure if it counts as a conversation if there’s only one participant”. Dean smiled gently at him, and Cas felt all of his embarrassment flow out from him. His eyes flickered down to Dean’s lips, and then back to his eyes again. Dean raised his hand and brushed it lightly across Cas’ still red cheek, before he dropped his arms and cleared his throat.

“If we’re going out, we really should go, days are short right now”. Cas took a step back and nodded reluctantly.

“I’ll see you in an hour”, Dean said softly. Cas nodded again, and Dean turned away. He followed him to the living room in case he needed help finding his key. The other man rummaged under the sofa, pulled out a car key and waved it triumphantly. He clasped Cas’ shoulder and squeezed gently on his way past, and pulled the front door closed softly behind him.

A few hours later, they were sat together on the same hill where Cas had spent most of his time yesterday. Cas sat cross legged with the canvas spread across his lap. A paint palette lay on the floor on one side of him, with blobs of all of the colors he had thought of yesterday spread around it. Dean sat on the other side of him at a slight angle as he peered over so that he could see what Cas was doing. Dean’s knee pressed against his provided a spot of warmth that was pleasant and slightly distracting. Dean had spent the first hour or so taking his own pictures, had carried a surprising amount of camera equipment up the hill with him. Cas had enjoyed watching him, very confident with a camera in his hand, always choosing his shot carefully as if he was still limited by the amount of film in his camera, and adjusting the angle he stood at carefully to get the best light.

Cas soon got caught up in his own painting though, and barely noticed that Dean had stopped taking his own pictures and sat down beside him. Dean had slowly edged closer and closer, as if he were some wild animal who would run away if he moved to quickly. Cas had only looked up when Dean’s knee had finally touched his. He smiled vaguely at him, but returned to his painting. Dean stayed watching him like that, so Castiel was assuming he wasn’t bored. It was only when he realized that he was starting to have to lean closer to see what he was painting that he noticed the sun was fast moving towards the horizon, and they really should head back. He put his paint brush down on the palette and rolled his neck with a sigh.

“Time to go?” Dean asked softly, seemingly unwilling to break the peace that had settled between them. Castiel nodded and stood. Dean clambered to his feet, and nearly fell. Castiel caught him before he could.

“Both of my feet are numb!” Dean exclaimed.

“That’s what you get for sitting on hard ground without moving for so long” Castiel sniggered at him.

“I didn’t want to fidget and disturb you!” Dean said, shifting his weight gingerly from side to side. “How come you’re not having this problem?” he asked, eyeing the hand that still held onto him securely.

“I’m used to it”, Castiel replied. “And I do yoga which helps with my circulation, and means I’m very flexible”. Dean raised an eyebrow at him.

“Is that so”. Castiel nodded, grinned, and tapped one of his feet against one of Dean’s. “Does this help?” He asked mischievously. Dean yelped and tried to get away, before stumbling on his numb feet and falling onto his ass with a huff. Castiel tried to grab him, but he slipped out of his grasp. As Cas closed the new gap between them with a couple of steps, he heard Dean laughing, and began to laugh too. Dean held a hand out for Cas to help him up, which he did - although it was made more difficult as both of them were still laughing too much and Dean’s feet were still not completely right. Cas pulled a bit too hard, and Dean ended falling slightly in the other direction, against Cas’ chest. He straightened, but didn’t move away. Cas was again dazzled by Dean’s eyes, closer now than they had been before. Those eyes flickered shut, and Cas was about to complain until he realized that Dean had leant his head forward, and then kissed him gently. The kiss only lasted a second, and was soft and chaste, but it still made Cas feel a bit weak at the knees. Dean pulled his head away slightly, and looked back down at him.

“Sorry, I’ve been trying not to do that all day, and then I go and ruin it right at the end.” His voice was so soft it was almost a whisper, a deep rumble he felt resonate from Dean’s chest to his own.

“Why have you been trying not to do it?” Castiel asked, just as softly.

“Because you just broke up with someone else, and from what you were saying earlier, you came out here looking for space.” Cas stared at Dean, deep blue eyes meeting green ones.

“Sometimes things don’t turn out the way you planned them.” Dean nodded slightly in agreement

“No, you’re right they don’t.” Dean looked around.

“I don’t really want to leave, but the sun’s going down, and it’s going to get really cold up here soon. I don’t want you to break a leg as we go back down the hill”. They broke apart reluctantly, gathered their stuff together and headed back to the pathway. They hadn’t got far, when Dean shifted his stuff so that it was all on one side, and took Castiel’s hand as they made their way back to the car.

They chatted in the car on the short drive home, Dean telling Cas about the time that Sam had believed that he was batman and jumped off the shed roof. They fell quiet as they pulled into the lane that led to Sam’s cottage, both understanding that the next few minutes could change everything, or nothing.

“Can I see you again?” Dean asked quietly, as they came to a stop next to the gate.

“I don’t know.” Castiel replied honestly. “I feel like this could have the potential to get really complicated, really quickly, and I’m leaving in less than a couple of weeks now, and I’m not sure I can handle complicated right now.”

Dean looked across at him.

“Or we could keep it simple. A holiday romance, no strings, no expectations, just some company while you’re here.”

“I don’t know if I’m that kind of person” Castiel looked down at his hands, twisting them anxiously in his lap.

“Me neither”, Dean admitted. “But I don’t want to never see you again.”

“Me neither” Cas echoed. “How about this: we’ll agree to keep it light, enjoy each other’s company, and I’ll promise not to fall in love with you”. Dean laughed.

“Deal” Dean said, and thrust his hand towards Cas, who shook it sharply.

“So are you free tomorrow? I was taking some time off anyway. I have to be back for about six, but I was thinking I could show you somewhere different, maybe we could take a picnic?” Castiel nodded, and put one hand on the door.

“That sounds wonderful.” He replied. Dean smiled, leant forward and kissed him lightly.

“See you tomorrow then, I’ll pick you up at 10?.” He murmured against Cas’ lips. Castiel pulled away reluctantly, and opened the car door, muttering to himself. Dean laughed as the words reached his ears “Keep it light. Light. Light.”

Castiel shut the door behind him, and Dean pulled smoothly away into the dusk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, first kiss and lots of fluff!!
> 
> Gabriel is going to take Sam around some of the LA tourist spots tomorrow, so hopefully you'll come back and read that too.
> 
> Each kudos and comment feels like a Christmas present, thank you :)


	6. Sam

After Sam finished eating, which he again did in Cas’ studio with the lights twinkling around him, the house began to feel a little too large, and a little too empty. He re-located to the sofa in front of the TV, pulled out his cell and dialed the number on the front of the card he’d been given the day before. It rang a few times then switched to voicemail.

“You’re through to Gabriel. I’m currently playing an Angel of the Lord in a movie due out Christmas 2015, so I’m probably out smiting someone or something. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you when I have time” Sam was laughing at Gabriel’s crazy message when the beep sounded.

“Hi Gabriel, it’s Sam, erm Sam Winchester, we met yesterday? I was hoping I could take you up on your offer of tour guide. If you’re still interested, gimme a call back when you’re done… smiting… or whatever.” He left his cell number and hung up, before throwing his phone over to the end of the sofa and laying his head back against the cushion behind him. What was he even doing? He had come out here to get away and be alone, so why did being alone suddenly seem like a bad thing? Why couldn’t he stop thinking about eyes the color of a well-aged whiskey, trained on him with intense focus?

His phone beeped at the other end of the sofa, and Sam scrabbled for it where it had fallen. He had a new text and quickly opened it.

‘SmmyBoy! Soz missed u, on break from film. Free 2moz if int?’ Sam laughed at the text speak, and quickly replied

‘Tomorrow would be great, what time are you free?’ He didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

‘Not fin film til l8 so pick u up @11am?’

‘Sounds great, see you then’ Sam put his phone down, not expecting another reply, but his phone beeped again.

‘Gr8 c u 2moro QT’ It took Sam a second to work out what the QT meant, but he blushed when he realized he’d just been called a cutie. He got up to browse the huge DVD selection, hoping that 11am would come quickly.

The following morning, Sam had been pacing the lobby since ten to eleven. He couldn’t explain why he felt as if there were butterflies in his stomach, but there were. The doorbell rang at exactly 11, and Sam waited a second before opening it. Gabriel stood there smiling at him. He was wearing khaki shorts and a dark green round neck t-shirt, without the jacket this time.

“Hey Sam” Sam thought there might be something almost shy in the way the other man said his name.

“Hey” Sam replied, stepping out and pulling the doors shut.

“So, where are we going today?” Gabriel asked, squinting up at Sam in the late morning sun. Sam smiled down at him.

“I thought you could tell me, I’ve never been here before.” Gabriel gasped dramatically.

“Really? You’re an LA virgin?! And you’ve invited me here to pop your cherry? What a gift!” Gabriel exclaimed excitedly, while Sam flushed scarlet. They headed towards Gabriel’s car and got in.

“Where shall we go first? We need to see the sign, the walk of fame and the TCL Chinese Theatre, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. And Disneyland, we should go to Disneyland!” Gabriel grabbed Sam’s arm. He considered for a second, then said “No, we’ll stick to the basics today. Maybe we could go to Disneyland another time, if you let me come back after today.” He smirked over to Sam in the passenger seat.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Sam, as Gabriel took him on a whirlwind tour of the most famous Hollywood sights. The day was set to the soundtrack of the clunking noise of Gabriel taking pictures on an old polaroid camera, and Sam’s laughter as Gabriel regaled him with facts and stories about each place, some so extreme and ridiculous and Sam was sure they weren’t true, but found them hilarious anyway.

They’d gone to the Hollywood sign first, and the fact that they’d had to duck through a fence and skirt round a couple of security camera made Sam think that they probably weren’t strictly supposed to be here. But they did end up behind the sign with an amazing view over the city. Sam stood in the middle with his arms spread and grinned widely as Gabriel took the picture. Gabriel told him a story about the guys who had taken the ‘Land’ letters down and how they had kept the letters, but lived all over the country now so you could do a tour of different cities and go and see the L or the N. Sam just laughed as they walked back down the hill to where Gabriel had parked.

Next was the Chinese theatre and the famous hand and foot prints. They spent ages trying to find a hand print that Sam could fit his hands in too, with Gabriel making jokes about other things that people with big hands have (big gloves, big oven mitts, Saxx underwear etc). When they failed to find a hand print big enough, Gabriel took a picture with Sam’s hands over Eli Wallach’s hand print. He had been in so many of the Western’s he and Dean had watched growing up and was one of Sam’s heroes. Gabriel told Sam a story about an early owner of the theatre who had a wax work figure of his wife made and put into the lobby of the theatre, and then kept trying to talk to it one night before getting really annoyed that she wasn’t talking back.

The Walk of Fame was next, Gabriel told Sam that he expected to have his own star there in a few years, but it probably wouldn’t be off the back of his current film as Balthazar was big bag of dicks who kept getting his lines wrong. Sam found all of his favorite movie heroes (Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Patrick Stewart) and Gabriel liked to visit his favorite cartoon characters (Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog and Woody Woodpecker). Sam even found the star for the actor who played Dr Sexy in Dr Sexy MD and took a picture on his phone to send to Dean.

Lastly, they went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall as it was getting dark, and its lights were flickering on. They stood and admired the soaring points above them, now lit in glowing amber lights. Gabriel told Sam that local residents had to complain about their increasing air conditioning costs due to the reflection of the sun coming off of the Concert Hall and heating up their apartments, and that the architects had toned down the amount the steel was able to reflect.

“So Sam, would you like to see my organ?” Gabriel asked straight faced. Sam spat out the mouthful of water he had just taken.

“Wh… what?” He stuttered.

“Follow me.” Gabriel stalked off around the side of the building. Sam followed a step or two behind, slightly concerned about what Gabriel was about to show him. The other man strode confidently up to a side door with a bulky security man stood in front of it. He nodded at Gabriel and went to push the door open for him.

‘Who’s your friend Gabe?’ He asked, looking over Sam.

“That’s Sam, he’s with me. He’s an LA virgin so I wanted to show him the organ.” The other man smirked and waved them both through the door. Gabriel turned his head to Sam as they walked in.

“We do need to hurry up, we’re still a couple of hours away from a performance but they’ll start setting up soon.” Gabriel grabbed Sam’s hand and tugged him along. Sam went along willingly, but felt completely confused.

“Who’s setting up?” He asked.

“The LA Philharmonic. I know most of the string section. That’s not the point. Here we are.” Gabriel stopped in front of a grand set of doors, dropping Sam’s hand before he flung them open dramatically. He grabbed Sam’s hand again and pulled him through the doors and down a couple of steps. Sam could feel his eyes widen and his mouth dropped. The Concert Organ in front of him was made of red piping in a seemingly random placement that looked as if it had grown from the ground like a tree. It was beautiful.

Gabriel looked at Sam’s face.

“Impressive isn’t it.” Sam nodded, finding his voice at last.

“I’m slightly disappointed though” Sam said, his tone teasing.

“Oh?” Gabriel quirked an eyebrow at him.

“I thought you were talking about something else.” Sam smirked and waggled his eyebrows a little.

“Maybe later Gigantor. I think I should at least buy you dinner first.” Gabriel grabbed Sam’s hand again, and pulled him out of the auditorium and out of the Concert Hall.

“I think I should buy you dinner as a thank you for today. It’s been awesome.” Sam smiled shyly.  They walked back to the car, and Sam realized that Gabriel hadn’t let go of his hand yet, but decided that he didn’t mind.

“I don’t know any good places though. Maybe I could make dinner at mine… I mean, Castiel’s… instead?”

“As a native Angeleno I could probably recommend a few places, but dinner at yours sounds great.”

Which is how Sam ended up staring into the refrigerator he only stocked yesterday, trying to work out what he could cook for two when he had only planned meals for one. Gabriel sat at the table pouring over all of the Polaroid pictures he’d taken through the day. He would occasionally hold one up for Sam to come and have a look at, and they would spend a couple of minutes looking together before Sam placed a hand on the opposite side of the chair and leant forward to look at the pictures, ‘accidentally’ leaning his arm along Gabriel’s shoulders. Gabriel would brush his hand as they passed photos in between themselves. Sam would remember he was supposed to be cooking and rush back over to check nothing was burning. He told himself it was stupid, but he still spent the time when he was cooking working out the next casual touch.

He placed a bowl of pasta on the table for each of them, after Gabriel carefully gathered all of the pictures into a pile. They sat together, knees touching, and began to eat.

“This is good”, Gabriel commented. Sam blushed and shook his head.

“It’s only pasta.” Gabriel beamed at him.

“You know, you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed, you just make me want to embarrass you more” Sam ducked his head, trying to hide his reddening cheeks, but Gabriel reached a hand out and grabbed his chin, stopping him. He leant forward, eyebrows raised in a silent question. Sam gave the tiniest nod, and Gabriel closed the final inch to press his lips against Sam’s. They moved their lips together slowly, without the need for urgency, almost as if they had been doing this for a long time, as if they knew each other inside and out already. They broke apart, and smiled softly at each other.

“Do you have to go, or do you want to stick around and watch a movie or something?” Sam asked quietly.

“I’m free.” Gabriel replied, and Sam got the feeling that he was answering more than the question asked. They both got up, leaving their bowls to worry about later. They moved into the living room with the cream sofas and the shelves upon shelves of DVD’s. Gabriel whistled as they entered the room, impressed by the collection. He browsed for a few moments, before he pulled a DVD off of the shelf. He waved it at Sam.

“Have you seen ‘The Mission’?” He asked. “De Niro and Irons at their best. It helps of course that one of the main characters has a fantastic name.” Sam laughed.

“It wouldn’t happen to be Gabriel would it?” Gabriel grinned and put the DVD into the very complicated looking media system. Sam lounged on the couch, with his back to the arm and legs sprawled across the seats. He expected Gabriel would sit on the other couch, but when he came over with the remotes in his hand, he crawled up and sat between Sam’s legs so that his back was to Sam’s chest.

“Is this ok?” He asked, as he wriggled to get comfortable.

“It might get a little distracting”, Sam admitted, as Gabriel’s wriggling brought him even closer to his crotch.

“I’ll have to sit very still then”, Gabriel replied, movements stilling. He put the film on, and Sam lay one of his arms along the back of the sofa, and put the other one around Gabriel’s waist. They stayed like that for the next two hours as they watched the film. Sam had been worried that he would fall asleep, but enjoyment of both the film and the company kept him awake. As the credits rolled, Gabriel stretched his arms above his head, narrowly avoiding smacking Sam in the mouth. He clambered his way off of the couch and stood up.

“I guess I should be going” Gabriel said reluctantly. Sam looked up in surprise.

“Really? Oh, I mean, of course.” He stood up and stretched, his t-shirt coming away from his shorts and exposing hip and stomach. Gabriel gulped audibly, and Sam looked over to him. He shook his head, a determined expression on his face.

“For once in my life, I’m going to be a gentleman. It doesn’t happen very often, so I had better go before I change my mind.” He stalked out to the lobby, leaving Sam no choice but to follow.  

“I’ve had a really good time today” Gabriel said, stepping back towards Sam, and placing a hand on his chest.

“Me too.” Sam acknowledged, placing a hand on either side of Gabriel’s waist. He bent his head down and kissed him. He was about to tilt his head to deepen the kiss, when Gabriel broke away.

“Gentlemanly. I’ll give you a call tomorrow when we get a break in filming” He said with a smile, before turning around, walking to and then through the door, shutting it lightly behind him.”

Sam returned to the sofa and flopped back down onto it, unable to wipe the smile from his face, for now at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone. I've never actually been to LA, so I've done some research over the last day or so to write this, but let me know if there are any glaring inaccuracies, although do be aware I have taken some artistic license with some of Gabe's stories (as i'm sure he would have done), therefore I do know they aren't all real /accurate!
> 
> Eli Wallach had an amazing career, but I only really knew him from The Holiday where he plays the old-timer Kate Winslet's character meets and he takes her under his wing. He died earlier this year aged 98! I wanted to put a nod to him somewhere in this fic so included it here.
> 
> The Walt Disney Concert Hall looks like an amazing building, with an amazing organ. If you haven't seen it, you can see pics here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Concert_Hall#Concert_organ
> 
> Thanks for continuing to read. We'll be back to Destiel tomorrow, as Dean takes Cas on a picnic and gets some mysterious phone calls...


	7. Cas

At ten the following morning, Castiel was waiting by the front door, pacing between the kitchen table and the couch. By ten past ten, he was out of the door and pacing between the front door and the front gate. It was cold out there, but at least he didn’t feel quite so shut in. By twenty past, he was leaning on the gate dejectedly, debating whether to just go back to bed, when the sleek black car drew into sight at the end of the lane. He smiled at Dean as he pulled up by the gate. He grabbed his bag which contained a smaller canvas, a few colors and paint brushes, then got in the passenger side. Dean leant over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Sorry I’m late. I had a couple of phone calls this morning as I was trying to get ready and it put me behind. You didn’t have to wait in the cold though.” He looked concerned as he laid one of his hands across Cas’ and gripped it tightly. He started to rub them gently to transfer some of his heat over.

“Lucky I bought more than one pair of gloves. It’s gonna be cold today.”

“Thank you Dean, I don’t own many winter clothes, I’m not used to thinking about it” He smiled down at his hands as Dean entwined their hands together.

“I know, I’m kinda jealous of Sam right now.” He looked over at Cas. “Or maybe not. I think maybe I got the best out of this deal.” Castiel looked over at Dean with wide eyes. As he did he noticed the picnic basket in the back seat. It was a proper wicker hamper, of the kind he’d only seen in interior design magazines.

“I know you said about a picnic, but I thought you were joking. Isn’t it going to be too cold for that?” Castiel asked, casually changing the subject whilst trying to hide his pleased embarrassment.

“You don’t get many opportunities for a winter picnic in LA. But trust me, you’re going to love it.” Dean replied, smiling over at him.

Soon, Dean pulled into the same car park as they had been in yesterday. Cas looked around in confusion.

“I’m not complaining, but I thought we were going somewhere different today?”

“We are”, Dean replied. “We’re going down instead of up”. They both got out of the car, Cas carrying his art bag, and Dean hefted the picnic basket, looping the double handle over one arm. Dean took Cas’ hand again as they left the car park, and Cas was warmed by the casual touch. Dean led the way, but they walked slowly, clearly not in a rush. At one point they came to a wall with a strange looking gate blocking their way.

“We’ll have to go one at a time through here. It’s called a kissing gate. I go through first, and then I’ll open the gate for you. But you have to kiss me, or I won’t let you through.” Dean let go of Cas’ hand and strode towards the gate, turning his head back and smiling at Cas in encouragement. Cas followed a few steps behind. Dean pushed the gate forward a little, maneuvered around the small gap he had created and stood on the other side. He pushed the gate back again and stood looking at Cas, waiting for him to approach.

“Is this a weird English rule, or a Dean Winchester just made it up rule?” Cas joked.

“It’s an official rule!” Dean pouted slightly as Cas still stood watching him. Cas grinned and closed the gap between them. He leant over the gate and pushed his lips against Dean’s. There was already a familiarity there, and Cas flickered his tongue lightly against Dean’s lip. Dean moaned lightly, and Cas felt the vibration travel from Dean’s lips to his. Cas tilted his head to deepen the kiss, as Dean sent his tongue searching. It was only when they both instinctively tried to press closer together, and found a wooden gate in the way that they remembered where they were. They broke a part, both slightly breathless but smiling widely. Dean helped Cas through the gate, took his hand again and they continued on.

They came at last to the place Dean had obviously been heading for. They walked to the edge of a wide, fast flowing stream. It was surrounded by trees, some with bare branches dangling into the water. Large rocks added punctuation to the rolling water, and the low sunlight was dappled on the water. This caused some parts of the stream to glow and allowed Castiel to see the stones sitting on the bottom and the movement of small fish above them, whereas other parts looked completely black. When Cas turned back to Dean, he was smiling hugely.

“This is a beautiful place Dean.” It somehow felt more special as Dean had bought him here. He had loved where they had been yesterday, at the top of the rolling peaks, but Castiel had first found that on his own, and considered it to be his place. Dean had shown him this, and Castiel felt that this could be their place.

Dean opened the picnic hamper. In the top of the basket was a red plaid blanket, which Dean pulled out and spread across the flattest piece of ground he could find He sat down cross-legged and beckoned for Cas to do the same.

“It’s a bit early for lunch. I thought you could have some time to paint, we’ll have lunch, then see what we want to do” Cas nodded, distracted by Dean’s mouth and only half listening to what he was saying. He leant over to kiss him briefly.

“Now, are you going to paint or not?” Dean demanded, teasingly, as he pulled away. Cas began to empty his bag across the blanket, putting some paper down first so as not to get paint on the blanket. He muttered to himself about ‘not being an on demand artist’, but he was still smiling so Dean knew he was pleased.

An hour or so later, Cas was surprised to hear his stomach rumble loudly, breaking him out of his intense focus on what he was doing. He found that Dean had moved into a similar position as yesterday, and he looked up and met his eyes.

“Lunchtime?” Dean asked with a soft smile. Cas nodded, putting his canvas to one side. Dean began to pull items from the basket. First was a large thermos and two cups. He poured bright red tomato soup into each, and handed one to Cas who wrapped his hands around it gratefully. He then passed over a bread roll, and moved back to sit next to Cas.

“First course is tomato soup, it’s from a can, but still surprisingly good.” He blew into his cup, then took a small sip.

“First course? How many courses are there?” Cas took his own sip of the soup, and was surprised by how warm it still was.

“Three. All the best meals have three courses.” Dean grinned. He tore his bread roll into smaller pieces and laid them on his knee, picking one of them up and dunking it into his soup.

“This is how Sam always ate his soup. I copied him one day and never looked back”. Cas proceeded to break his roll up too, and copied Dean as he dunked another piece into his cup before quickly shoving it into his mouth.

Dean took the cups away when they had both finished and stacked them neatly next to the hamper. Cas immediately missed the warmth of the cup in his hand. Dean pulled out two foil covered boxes and two spoons next. He passed a box and spoon to Cas who took it and eagerly unwrapped the box. Inside what looked like an old takeaway container was a delicious smelling casserole. He could see chunks of beef, potato, carrot and other vegetables swimming in a rich brown sauce, he sniffed again as the steam rose from it. He took a spoonful and groaned with enjoyment as he bit into a soft bit of beef that melted in his mouth. Dean smirked at him.

“It’s been cooking since I got home last night. It’s just what you need when some crazy guy drags you out into the Derbyshire countryside.” Cas was pleasantly surprised at the amount of effort Dean had put into their casual picnic.

“So am I the crazy guy, or are you?” Cas asked with a smile. Dean shrugged and went to take his own mouthful.

“Could be either of us. Hold on, I forgot drinks!” he put his spoon down and scrambled back to the basket. He unhooked two plastic wine glasses from the lid of the hamper, and pulled out the smallest bottle of wine Cas had ever seen. Dean saw him looking and held it up.

“It’s supposed to be for one person, but I figured we could share it.” Dean poured out half a glass each and moved back next to Cas. Cas took a sip of his and marveled as the red wine added another level of flavor to the delicious casserole.

They had both just finished eating the casserole when Dean’s phone began to ring. Cas picked it up and passed it over, checking the screen without thinking.

“Ben’s calling you. Sorry I didn’t mean to look”. Dean took the phone and clambered to his feet as the ringing stopped.

“Sorry, I should ring him back. I won’t be long”. He turned away and walked back a little into the trees. ‘Just out hearing range’ Cas thought cynically, then scolded himself. He had no reason to think that Dean was anything other than he said he was, and anyway, he certainly had no claims to him. He watched as Dean paced slightly behind the trees, sometimes in view, sometimes hidden by the tree. He had a soft expression on his face that Castiel didn’t think he’d seen before. He turned away and watched the stream instead. He didn’t want Dean to think he was trying to listen in.

It wasn’t long before Dean strolled back to the blanket. He threw his phone down, and it slid across the blanket landing by Cas’ foot.

“Sorry about that, still trying to sort something out from this morning” Dean apologized as he crouched down beside the picnic basket again.

“It’s time for the best course though”. He pulled out two foil covered circles, and two more spoons. Cas pulled the foil off of his, and found beneath it a tiny, perfectly proportioned pie, in an individual sized pie dish.

“Wow Dean, this is amazing. I can’t quite believe you made all of this for me!” Cas exclaimed.

“It’s my Mom’s apple pie recipe. It’s best full sized, but I wasn’t sure how much pie you could eat.” Cas appreciated the significance of Dean making this for him, and felt as if he was standing on a precipice, and only he could decide how far or how fast he would fall. He placed a hand on Dean’s knee, making him look at Cas in surprise.

“Thank you Dean. For everything you’ve done today, but especially for sharing this with me.” Dean blushed faintly and looked away.

“Eat it up before it gets cold” he replied gruffly. Cas picked up his spoon again and dug into the pie. The sweet, buttery, pastry crumbled onto his tongue, followed by apples that still retained a little sharpness, along with cinnamon, mixed spices and sticky caramel. He swallowed and moaned for a second time this meal.

“You have now spoiled me for every other pie in the world. No other dessert will ever taste as good as this” Cas proclaimed dramatically, as Dean grinned at him. They both fell back and laid on the blanket when they were finished, too full to want to move.

Dean’s phone began to ring again, right by Cas’ hip. He picked it up and looked at it, before realizing again that he shouldn’t have done that.

“Michael’s calling you. Sorry again.” Dean groaned quietly.

“I don’t want to move.” But he took the phone offered to him and stood, marching back to the same tree he had paced behind before.

‘Ben and Michael’ Cas thought to himself, as he laid and stared at the sky. ‘They could be clients. He could be having professional conversations with them about their wedding, or corporate event. Or he could be living with one, sleeping with another and one of them might be about to tell the other one about their great sex in a bar’, his traitor brain supplied. He was beginning to feel tainted by the way his relationship with Balthazar had ended.

Dean came back and flopped back down beside Castiel. Castiel did his best to put his un-trusting thoughts out of his head, then rolled over to face Dean and smirked. They were so close now, and being laid side by side, facing each other, felt more intimate then anything they had done so far, and they weren’t even touching. Cas stared into those gorgeous green eyes, wondering if he could discern all of Dean’s secrets if he looked into them for long enough. Dean smiled softly, raised a hand and placed it lightly on Cas’ cheek, rubbing his thumb lightly against his jaw. He brushed a light finger against Cas’ lips, causing the other man to shiver slightly. Cas moved slightly towards Dean, and tilted his head to join their lips again.

A few minutes later, Cas broke away.

“We are technically in public Dean. As much as I don’t want to stop…” Dean nodded reluctantly.

“You’re right. We don’t want to give some random person walking their dog a shock. You’re also wasting precious daylight, so you’d better get a move on with that beautiful painting.”

“You’re so bossy! Are you always this bossy?” Cas asked cheekily.

“You’ll have to wait and see” Dean replied suggestively. They both sat up, and Cas picked up his canvas again. They sat quietly for a few minutes, before Dean stood up abruptly.

“I’m enjoying watching you, but the river is calling me. I’ll be back”. He bounded away. Cas thought he was about to jump into the river, but he did a long jump and landed on the wide flat rock closest to the shore. He jumped from one rock to another down the stream a little, until he landed on a rock next to one of the golden patches of light that illuminated the water. He sat down cross legged and looked into the river below. Castiel wanted to join him, but he was worried he would end up falling in and Dean would have to rescue him. ‘On second thoughts, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad’ he thought to himself. He shook his head and continued painting. He did begin to add a dark figure sat in the middle of the river though, glad of the excuse to be able to watch Dean as he painted him in.

He watched as Dean made his way back to the shore, and walked towards him, a big grin on his face.

“It’s lovely out there you know”

“I am sure it is Dean. I was enjoying the view from here though” Castiel replied, turning the canvas round to show him the new addition.

“Hey, that’s me! Or at least I think it is. I don’t see my back very often. And I have a very nice ass!” Castiel laughed aloud at the last comment, nodding in agreement.

“I don’t want to go, but I really should be getting back” Dean said unwillingly. Cas just nodded and began to pack his paints back into the bag. Dean had already re-packed the hamper, just adding the picnic blanket after Cas had stepped off of it. They trekked back to the car hand in hand, Castiel controlling the kissing gate this time.

Dean asked Cas about his family on the way home. Cas explained in unemotional tones that he had no contact with his parents or his two brothers after they had kicked him out of their house after he came out. Dean was sympathetic, explaining that he had never had the chance to come out to his parents. He thought his mom would have been fine with it, but his dad probably wouldn’t have approved. They both described how glad they were to have at least one supportive sibling, Dean with Sam, and Cas with Anna who was the one person in his family he did have contact with, although she lived in New York so they didn’t see each other very often.

As they pulled up to Cas’ gate, he looked at Dean, not wanting the day to be over already. He remembered that Dean had said that he had to be somewhere at 6 though, so he knew that he had to go, and he had given so much of his time to Castiel already. He tried to stop the nasty suspicious thoughts that wondered where he was going, and managed to push them out of his head as Dean stopped the car and turned to look at him. His eyes slid past Cas’ and Dean frowned.

“Are you expecting a visitor Cas, as I don’t recognize that guy.” Cas frowned in confusion, and Dean nodded his head towards the house. Cas turned and followed his gaze.

“Balthazar” Cas breathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh my first cliff hanger... I thought we had to get beyond fluff to a bit of plot at some point, so I guess this is that point! Why has Balthazar come to England? Who are Ben and Michael? We'll be back to Sam in LA tomorrow, so you'll have to wait until Wednesday to find out what happens in Derbyshire!
> 
> Hope you're still enjoying. Do send comments if you want too!


	8. Sam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You attend the funeral, you bid the dead farewell. You grieve. Then you continue with your life. And at times the fact of her absence will hit you like a blow to the chest, and you will weep. But this will happen less and less as time goes on. She is dead. You are alive. So live.” Dream to his son, Orpheus, in ‘Sandman – Fables and Reflections’, by Neil Gaiman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've updated the tags on this fic with some new ones so I'm going to repeat the warning here.
> 
> This chapter is tagged with hurt/comfort, anxiety attacks, and flashbacks to the night Jess died including having to identify a body. It gets quite dark in the middle but returns to comfort / fluff at the end. If this is something that might upset you, feel free to skip this chapter and return tomorrow to find out what happens with Cas and Dean. 
> 
> If you think I've missed any tags or if anything I've written is wildly inaccurate, feel free to leave me a comment.

Sam awoke the following morning to the noise of his cell phone ringing. He answered it with a muffled "hello?"

"Sasquatch! How are you doing this morning?" 

"Gabriel?"

"Got it in one Sam my boy. Sorry, did I wake you up?" Gabriel didn't sound sorry at all. Sam checked the time.

"It's only seven am Gabriel, why are you calling me? I thought you had work today?" He struggled to sit up while still holding his phone to his ear, and rubbed the other hand over his eyes.

"Well that's just it you see, that son of a bitch Balthazar has gone AWOL, just not turned up for work and nobody can get hold of him. Given that the scenes we were doing today were just me and him, they've sent me home."

"So you thought you'd call and wake me up"

"My my my someone's grumpy in the morning! You can't be grumpy when someone is about to invite you to the happiest place on earth!"

"If you're talking about your bed again Gabriel, I swear..." Sam grinned down the phone as Gabriel guffawed. 

"No my dear sweet Sam. Would you like to spend the day at Disneyland with me?"

"Sure, that sounds great."

"Don't sound too excited. I'll pick you up in half an hour, we can get breakfast on the way, and you'd better be properly excited by then."

33 minutes later, after the quickest shower Sam had ever had, he slid into Gabriel's waiting car. He took one look at Gabriel and burst out laughing. 

"What on earth have you got on your head?" He was wearing Mickey ears, with his name written in gold flowing stitching on the back.

"Don't you like them?" He pouted playfully. "Or maybe you're just jealous. Don't worry Sammy; I'll buy you a pair later."

Two hours later, they were strolling down Main Street, hand in hand; Sam with a freshly embroidered set of ears on his head, and Gabriel with a toffee apple in his other hand that had been decorated to look like Mickey's shorts. He had been a literal kid in the candy store as he tried to decide which apple to have.

Sam held a map in his other hand and was trying to decide where they should go first. 

"New Orleans Square first I think, then Frontier Land." He finally decided. 

"Good choice. Left at the Partners statue then". When Sam looked confused, he guided him in the right direction with their entwined hands. He was in tour guide mode again, telling Sam all of the facts he'd learnt when he'd worked here as a behind the scenes guide. He pointed out the names in the windows as they went along, and told the stories of the Imagineers who had helped to design rides or other parts of the park, and had their names immortalised in the Main Street windows.

As they crossed the bridge away from Main Street, Sam interrupted his current spiel about the use of perspective when they were building the castle.

"I still can't believe you have an annual pass to Disneyland." Sam teased.

"Yeah well, it's my happy place. I come here to escape the cares and troubles of the rest of the world. I loved my job here; I only left because I was offered a proper acting role." Sam nudged him with his shoulder.

"Being able to buy something sweet every few yards helps too I bet" he joked as they passed yet another popcorn stand, eyeing the half-eaten toffee apple Gabriel was still nibbling at.

"Yeah, that helps too" Gabriel grinned up at him.

They went on Pirates of the Caribbean first, and Gabriel pointed out the new Jack Sparrow additions. He told Sam that Johnny Depp had occasionally come in costume and hid in amongst the props, before trying to convince Sam that the final Jack Sparrow in amongst the treasure had moved more than usual, therefore it must have been Depp. They went on the Haunted Mansion next, and if Sam skirted closer to Gabriel as they went past the ballroom scene, he didn't seem to mind. Sam laughed when they got to the end and saw a ghost hitchhiker squeezed in between them in the mirror.

"I can't believe you let a ghost come between us like that!" Gabriel chuckled as they walked out through the gift shop.

"It's ok, I saw this show once where the best way to get rid of a ghost was to throw salt at it, so I would only have let it follow us til lunchtime." Sam replied with a grin.

They went on Big Thunder Mountain next, and Sam kept ducking every time they went under anything, it all seemed impossibly low for someone of his height. Gabriel laughed at him, but stopped with a sniff when Sam pointed out that he only didn't have to worry because he's such a short ass. Next was Splash Mountain and they were both relieved to get off of the ride only slightly damper then when they started. Gabriel insisted that they had to complete the three mountains, and so dragged him back in front of the castle and over to Tomorrowland to join the queue for Space Mountain. Sam came off of the ride feeling slightly queasy, causing Gabriel to announce that it was lunchtime, and assuring Sam that a burger would make him feel better.

Sam did feel better after lunch at Tomorrowland Terrace (although he went for the chicken salad rather than the burger, much to Gabriel’s disgust), but Gabriel still declared it was time to slow the pace down a bit and dragged him towards Fantasy Land. They got fast passes for The Peter Pan ride as it was a ninety minute wait, planning to come back later.

It was the smallest thing that ended up acting as a trigger for Sam on that day. His eyes fell on the carousel. He remembered how much Jess had always loved them, how they had gone to London every year to the Christmas fair, and she had always made them wait in the very long line so that they could go round together side by side in a pair of matching horses. He realised he hadn't thought about Jess in a couple of days, and the grief and the guilt crashed into him until he couldn't breathe. She would have loved it here; they should have been coming here for the first time together, except that she'd been taken away from him by some stupid drunk driver one night in the middle of winter. 

Sam distantly realised that he was heading towards the floor, knees folding of their own accord, and someone was calling his name, but it wasn't the right someone. It was a man's voice, when all he wanted to hear right now was Jess' voice. He could hear shouts beside him, someone calling for help as he was dragged down with Sam, who was now putting his head towards his knees. He still couldn't take a full breath, could hear his mouth drawing in air, but feeling as if he were trying to breathe in water.

A paper bag was shoved unceremoniously into his hands, then retrieved and placed over his mouth as Sam made no move to do anything with it. Another hand dug into his trousers, and Sam thought about protesting, about moving away, but he couldn't make himself do it. The hand pulled out his cell phone and moved away, so he decided to stay where he was, his eyes flickering closed. The tiny part of him that managed to stay calm and detached in these situations, tracked the conversation that was going on above his head.

"Dean, you don't know me, but I'm a friend of Sam's. I’m sorry to call you like this, but I think your brother is having some sort of anxiety attack, and I thought you might know what to do." Sam couldn't hear the rest of the conversation, and so his mind wandered away from it, and moved towards the memories he never allowed himself to think about except when they bubbled over at times like these. Towards memories of the night when the cop had turned up at his door in the middle of the night and told him there had been a horrible accident. He started to hyperventilate again as he remembered following the man out to the car with its lights flashing, then having to get in the back, as the cops’ partner turned to look at him with such sympathy in her eyes that it suddenly became real.

"Sammy?" A tinny voice suddenly sounded in his ear. He vaguely realized that someone was holding his cell phone to his ear.

"Dean?" His voice came out a croak amongst panting breaths. A hand was rummaging around in his short pockets again, and Sam heard a growl of frustration as they came up empty.

"It's ok Sammy. I'm here. It will all be ok; you just need to calm down. Do you need me to come out there?"

"No Dean, you can't, you have to stay there, you can't." Sam felt panic rising even higher in his chest. Dean had people who needed him in the UK; he couldn't just drop everything and fly out here like Sam had.

"Ok Sammy, it’s ok, I’ll stay here. But you got to have someone to make sure you get home safe. Who was the guy who rang me?"

"Gabriel" Sam managed to choke out. Things were becoming slightly clearer now, the panic and grief receding, as Dean’s gruff voice soother him, but it was still hovering on the edge of the shore, threatening to break again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gabriel crouch down beside him, concern in his eyes and in the twist of his usually smiling mouth.

"I'm here Sammy boy." 

"Can I speak to him again?" Dean asked. Sam nodded, forgetting that Dean couldn't see him, and passed the phone over to Gabriel. He was close enough that Sam could hear both sides of the conversation now.

"Look Gabriel, I’m not sure where you are right now, but it sounds noisy. Sam quite often goes into sensory overload after an attack, so you're gonna have to take him home ok? Can I trust you to look after my little brother for me?" Sam could feel the overload starting to kick in already. The constant soundtrack of music combined with the noise and lights from the carousel was starting to grate on him, and Sam wished he could cover both his eyes and his ears, and settled for shutting his eyes again, and placing his hands over his ears. He could still hear the faint murmuring of Gabriel on the phone beside him.

"We’re at Disneyland” Gabriel replied. “Pretty much the worst place he could be right now. He doesn't have any tablets on him. I'll make sure he takes some when he gets home." Sam felt his cell phone being slipped softly back into his pocket, then felt an insistent tug on his elbow. He opened his eyes, but kept his hands over his ears. 

"I'm going to help you up now Sam, and I'm going to take you home." Gabriel tried to smile reassuringly, but it didn't quite work with the worry still painting his face. Sam nodded, and Gabriel and another man took one of Sam's arms each, and pulled him to his feet. Sam distantly heard the other man offer to help him out of the park, but Gabriel refused, convincing him that he would manage. He pulled Sam's arm around his shoulder, tucking his body close into Sam's side so that Sam was leaning onto him as much as he could. They stumbled underneath the Castle and back down Main Street.

Sam was surprised when he realised that they were pulling up to Castiel’s gates. He didn't even remember getting into the car. Gabriel reached over and pulled the keys out of Sam's pocket, then hopped out of the car with a soft 'I'll be straight back'. Sam stayed awake and aware as they drove through the gates and towards the front door. Gabriel got out of the car, walking round and opening Sam's door. He reached over and was about to undo Sam's belt when Sam batted his hands away and did it himself. Gabriel just nodded and took Sam's arm as he got out of the car. He supported him through the front door, up the stairs and into the Master bedroom. Sam took the final steps himself and flopped onto the bed, pressing the button to shut the blinds as he did so, relieved as the room descended into darkness.

"Dean said you have some tablets you take?" Sam nodded and waved his hands towards a small cabin bag next to the dressing room door. A couple of minutes later, two tablets appeared on the table beside him, and a glass of water was placed beside it. Sam swallowed the two tablets down without looking at Gabriel; he didn't want to see judgement or sympathy in his new friends’ eyes. He shut his eyes and descended into the waiting darkness, not hearing the click of the door as Gabriel padded softly out of the room.

The same nightmare was waiting for him. He’d had it hundreds of times through that first year after Jess died, and more than a few times since then. He was walking down a clinically clean corridor, and ended up at a door with a glass window in it. He steeled himself, and pulled open the door. He stepped into a bright white room, fully tiled with a row of steel doors on one side. In the middle of the room was a steel counter with a white sheet draped over it. He stepped forward and went to draw the sheet back. He didn’t want to, but he knew that he had to, so he picked it up at one end and moved it slowly down. Inch by painful inch, his girlfriend appeared beneath the sheet.

First it was the top of her head which he loved to kiss, then her forehead, then her eyes, which were closed. He always paused then, waiting for her to open her eyes, to wake up and acknowledge him, but it never happened. He pulled the sheet off of the rest of her face and stood looking at her. She was so pale under the clinically white lights. It still didn’t feel real, still couldn’t be true. He wanted to stay with her, but he was drawn back into the corridor again. He walked towards a lobby at the other end. As he entered the reception area, he saw two cops escorting a man through the door. He was young, maybe eighteen, maybe younger, with a cap pulled down low on his head. He was clearly struggling to walk on his own and looked like he’d had far too much to drink. A faint voice floated past Sam.

“This is the drunk driver from that accident on Castle Road”. It connected with the Cop’s voice from earlier, telling him where Jess had been found, and Sam let out a howl of hurt and rage.

“That’s the bastard who killed my girlfriend!” he couldn’t hold himself back, he was charging towards the other man with his fist raised.

“Sam. Sammy” He fought his way back to consciousness as he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He opened bleary eyes that felt suspiciously damp, and looked up. Gabriel was standing there, looking worried.

“I’m sorry to wake you, but you were shouting, and when I came in here you were thrashing about. I didn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“What time is it?” Sam cleared his throat as the question came out as a croak.

“A little after 2am” Gabriel said, still looking concerned.

“You stayed with me?” Sam finally made eye contact with Gabriel. He didn’t see the judgement or sympathy he was expecting (but then he didn’t know the full story, Sam thought to himself). Gabriel dropped his eyes and shifted his feet slightly in embarrassment.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to leave you on your own, what with you being in a strange place and all, I didn’t know if you had anyone else here, and I know you told Dean not to come. I’ve been in one of the other bedrooms, and I raided your fridge. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind” Sam whispered, looking down at his hands, still tightly gripping the sheet. He tried to relax them, taking measured breaths in an attempt to calm himself down slightly. He thought about Gabriel, helping him home, looking after him, and then not wanting to leave him, staying within earshot in case he was needed. He thought it might have been the nicest thing anyone has done for him since Jess… He slammed the brake on that thought, not wanting to start hyperventilating again. Dean had always looked after him of course, but he was family. This was someone he had only met a few days ago, but he felt like he’d known him for years. He finally looked up at Gabriel again and stared, as if he could read the secret to why he cared on his face.

“If you’re feeling better, I can go. I don’t want to bother you if you need some space.” Gabriel moved as if he was about to leave, but Sam reached a hand out and just managed to grab his sleeve.

“Don’t go”. He couldn’t say it any louder than a whisper. If he whispered it, perhaps it wouldn’t matter if he was ignored and the other man left anyway. Gabriel nodded.

“I won’t leave if you don’t want me to. I should let you get back to sleep though. I’ll only be across the hall if you need something.”

“Would you stay here?” Gabriel’s face softened and he nodded. He changed direction and walked around the huge bed, climbing into the other side. He sat as close to the edge of the bed as he could, clearly he didn’t want to encroach on Sam’s space. Sam decided that perhaps space wasn’t the thing he needed right now, so he grabbed the other man’s arm and pulled him closer. Gabriel gave a slight squeak as he was dragged across the bed, which quickly ended as Sam entwined there hands together. They sat there for a few minutes as Sam waited for the panic to crash back over him, at the fact that he was here, holding hands with someone else, was sharing a bed with someone else. But it didn’t come. He just felt peaceful, laid in the dark, with Gabriel by his side. He knew deep in his heart that Jessica would want him to be happy, that she wouldn’t want him to still be having anxiety attacks triggered by thoughts of her. It was his own guilt and grief that was holding him back.

When Sam made no further movement, Gabriel shifted slightly closer, took his hand out of Sam’s and put his arm around his shoulders. He did it slowly, tentatively, giving Sam plenty of chance to shift away or to tell him to stop. Sam did neither, and leaned his head down onto Gabriel’s chest instead.

“Will you tell me about it someday?” Gabriel asked softly. Sam considered.

“Probably. Will you stay like this tonight?”

“Absolutely” Gabriel replied, and kissed the top of Sam’s head gently. Sam felt a tiny piece of grief chip and fall away. Sam was soon dozing, and he managed to slip into a restful sleep, with no dreams, for the first time in a very long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got away from me a bit *blushes* I wanted to deepen Sam & Gabe's relationship and thought that we needed to delve more deeply into some of the issues raised in chapter 2. I hope it came across ok, and you enjoyed seeing them at Disneyland before it got a bit rough!
> 
> We'll be back to them on Thursday to see what the aftermath of today will be. WIll Sam let Gabriel in? Will he be able to tell him about Jessica? Is he falling too deep considering he is leaving in a couple of weeks? These questions and more will be answered!
> 
> Also in case anyone is wondering, I am currently estimating that this fic will be about 12 chapters, so approx 4 more to go.


	9. Cas

“Are you expecting a visitor Cas, cos I don’t recognize that guy.” Cas frowned in confusion, and Dean nodded his head towards the house. Cas turned and followed his gaze.

“Balthazar” Cas breathed.

“That’s Balthazar?” Dean growled. “I’m gonna kill him for what he did to you.” He undid his belt and went to get out of the car, but Castiel grabbed his arm.

“You don’t know what he did to me!” He tilted his head in confusion.

“I know he hurt you, and I want to do the same thing back to him.” Dean’s whole posture had stiffened, like a panther waiting to leap. Feelings warred within Cas, on the one hand he was tempted to let Dean go, to enjoy this possessive side, and prove to Balthazar that he didn’t need him anymore. On the other hand, this was his fight; he needed to decide what he wanted. He was enjoying Dean’s company, but he was only going to be here for two weeks. He had to consider what he wanted when he got home as well.

He tightened his hand.

“Dean, you had to get home. Please can you leave this too me.” All of the tension flew out of Dean as he looked at Cas in surprise. He quickly schooled his expression and nodded.

“Ok. But, will you call me back if you need me?” Cas nodded quickly and put a hand out to open the door. It was Dean’s turn to grab his arm.

“Will you call me, either way? I understand if you… can’t see me again, but can you let me know? And I want you to know that _I_ want to see more of _you_.” There was such tenderness in Dean’s eyes, tinged with worry and sadness, that Castiel didn’t want to turn away, he wanted to drown in those green eyes, and kiss away all of the sorrow. In his heart, he already knew what he wanted, but he had to test it out, had to hear what Balthazar had to say in order to close that door for good. It was for that reason he was able to turn away and get out of the car.

He walked through the gate and down the path. Balthazar wasn’t looking at him, he was watching Dean’s car as he drove away with narrowed eyes.

“What are you doing here Balthazar?” Castiel rumbled as he pushed past him to unlock the front door.

“I came to find you of course Cassie. I heard you’d travelled to the mother land, so I came to persuade you to come home. And to ask for you to allow me to come home. I miss you darling.” Castiel walked through to the kitchen and the other man followed closely behind him. He flipped the coffee maker on and put two cups down on the table, perhaps a little harder than necessary. Balthazar pulled out a chair and lounged into it, but Castiel turned back to the coffee machine and studied it.

“You are going to look at me at some point, aren’t you Cassie?” He turned around and appraised Balthazar, still unsure of what to say to him. Castiel had to admit to himself that he looked good for someone who had just been on a thirteen hour flight. But, the man had caused the most hurt and betrayal Castiel had ever experienced in a relationship, yet when he had arrived in Derbyshire, it was as if all of that had vanished, had been left amongst the clouds as he crossed the ocean. But now Balthazar was here, it was bringing all of those feelings back, and it was making him feel pissed off.

Balthazar was just staring back at him, waiting for him to speak. Eventually, he cleared his throat.

“I came here because I had to see you. I had to. I’ve been going crazy without you, I’ve hated not hearing from you, not getting your little text messages that make filming that awful film slightly more bearable.” His words were washing over Castiel, making him feel like he was in a trance.

“Are you free to say these things to me Balthazar? Have you ended it with your _Mistress?”_ Castiel asked quietly, scathingly.

“And then when I finally arrive at this, this _shack_ , I find that you’re not here. And I wait for you, only to see you being dropped off by some strange man in an American muscle car. I mean, who drives one of those over here anyway? Who is he Cassie?” Balthazar skirted round Castiel’s question with one of his own.

“His name is Dean Winchester. He’s the brother of the man I have done the house swap with.” Castiel replied quietly, dropping his eyes back to the table.

“Ah yes, Gabriel mentioned he’d met Sam Winchester when he went to your house. You know Cassie, you can’t trust these English boys. They take a holiday fling and make you fall in love with them and then trample all over your heart. You want to watch yourself with this _Dean_ ” Balthazar folded his arms and nodded at him condescendingly.

Castiel had finally had enough. He strode up to Balthazar, putting his face mere inches away from the other man’s. He pushed a finger against his chest.

“You don’t know Dean. And you don’t know me anymore. You lost the right to know me when you started fucking someone else. So don’t come in here and start judging me for the friends I make on a holiday I came on to get away from you. And Dean is American, so it would appear the only English boy that I can’t trust is _you_.” He jabbed his finger into Balthazar’s chest one more time before turning away, chest heaving.

Balthazar sat in stunned silence for a few seconds, but it didn’t last long.

“Have you stopped loving me so quickly my darling? Have you really moved on so fast?”

“You moved on first. I notice that you never answered my question” Castiel noted bitterly.

“You have to understand how confused I am with all of this. But I’ve travelled half way across the world to see you haven’t I?”

“That’s a no then. I’m glad to see your slithering words got you back with someone. You know, Dean would never hurt me like you did. He’s kind, and protective, and funny, and even if I never see him again after I come home, these few days will have meant more than our whole relationship ever did.”

“Cassie, Cassie you poor little fool. What lies has he been filing your head with?”

The memory of Dean on the phone pacing behind a tree earlier today (was it only today, it felt like a long time ago now), flashed before Cas’ eyes, but he let it go with a shake of his head. He trusted Dean, inexplicably, perhaps stupidly, but he trusted him. He couldn’t have faked the look in his eyes when he stopped Cas from getting out of the car. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Cassie, won’t you come home with me?” Something finally snapped in Castiel. He whirled round, drew back his arm, and punched Balthazar in the face as hard as he could. There was a satisfying crunching noise, and the other man howled.

“My name is Cas you bastard. Now get out of my house, I never want to see you again, in your country or in mine.”

“You broke my nose” Balthazar whimpered, blood streaming down his face. Cas handed him a towel and then began to push him towards the door. Balthazar looked at Cas’ face, which seemed to have an almost heavenly wrath painted on it, and began to move towards the door of his own accord.

“Fine, I’ll go. But don’t come crying to me when this all goes tits up”.

Cas pushed him out of the door and slammed it shut.

“Don’t worry, I won’t” He shouted at the closed door. He shook his hand out, surprised at how much it had hurt to actually punch someone. He felt like the huge weight that had descended when he had seen Balthazar on his door step had been lifted again, and he began to laugh. His laughter echoed through the house and got more and more hysterical until Castiel realized he was actually sobbing as well, with tears streaming down his face. He staggered back to the kitchen table and sat in the chair that Balthazar had so recently vacated, rested his arms onto the table and sobbed into them.

He wasn’t crying because things were over with Balthazar. He was crying for all of the wasted time over the last few years, all of the little gestures he had done for the other man, all of the effort he had put in to get nothing in return. He remained slightly angry at himself for staying for so long in an obviously poisonous relationship, for not seeing the signs that he was being cheated on. There had been signs, he realized that now. Finally, his sobs calmed and he raised his head and looked around the room.

“Well, as Anna would say, very square peg, very round hole” he said aloud, thinking of the phrase his sister had always used at the end of a bad relationship. He considered ringing Dean to let him know that he was ok, but then remembered that Dean had something to do at six, so he didn’t want to bother him. He looked down at his hand that was still aching, and realized a couple of his knuckles were cracked and bleeding. He went upstairs to the bathroom to wash his hand and look for a band aid.

The following morning, Castiel woke up to the noise of the text alert on his phone. He winced as he moved his hand too quickly and his right wrist twinged. He cradled that hand to his chest and grabbed for his phone with his left hand instead.

‘I know I said I’d leave the ball in your court, but I was worried. All ok? Dean.’

Cas smiled softly, glad that Dean had contacted him and pleased that he was worried. He wasn’t sure he was ready to jump back into that yet though, so decided to keep his message short.

‘All ok. Balt gone. Need some time though?’

Cas rested his head back onto his pillow with a sigh, and he looked up again when his phone beeped at him.

‘No prob. Call me if you want to x’

Cas stared at that kiss for a long time, resolution already wavering. He eventually put his phone back on the table. He clambered out of bed still keeping his right arm cradled to his chest and walked to the small window. He looked out onto a gray sky, with rain pelting down onto the window. Now that he’d seen it, he realized he could hear the rain pounding into the thatched roof above him, and hoped that there wouldn’t be any leaks. He had thought about going back up into the peaks on his own today, to finish the picture he had started two days ago, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.

Cas thought about going out there anyway, having a Jane Eyre moment in the hills in the rain. At least it would match his mood. He decided he didn’t want to catch pneumonia though, and came to the conclusion that he was going to have to have a quiet day inside.

He coped well through the morning, over lunch time, and through most of the afternoon. As he made dinner for himself though, he realized he was bored and an evening alone in front of the TV, after a day of doing just that, did not appeal. He had tried to paint earlier, but every time he moved his hand his wrist hurt, so he had ended up throwing his paint brush down in frustration. It got worse when he looked down at what he had been able to get down on canvas and realized that a large pair of green eyes were staring back at him. After he pushed away his empty bowl, he picked up his phone and scrolled to Dean’s entry. There it was, Dean’s address that Dean himself had typed in yesterday, along with his email address and two mobile phone numbers.

He thought again about that evening on the sofa, and shook his head. He thought about ringing Dean, but then decided to surprise him. He ran upstairs, suddenly buoyant at the idea of seeing Dean tonight. He changed out of the t-shirt and sweat pants he had been in all day, and decided to put his suit trousers and a shirt and tie on, for no other reason than he wanted to look nice for Dean. He ran back downstairs and into the kitchen. He didn’t want to turn up empty handed, so he pulled down a small basket that sat on top of Sam’s cupboards, and added a packet of cookies and a bottle of wine to it.

As soon as he was in the car and on his way, doubts began to set in. He began to worry that Dean wouldn’t like him just turning up like this, or that he would be there with someone else, or he wouldn’t even be there. He decided it was too late to turn around though, and at least he would know for certain if he found another man there, and if Dean wasn’t there he would just come home and call him at another point.

He parked in the drive behind Dean’s car (‘he’s probably in then’ Cas thought to himself). He walked up to the front door and took a deep breath before knocking loudly. He heard light footsteps move quickly towards the door and had a second of panic as he realized Dean would have a much heavier tread.

The door opened, and a young boy looked up at Castiel. He guessed the boy was seven or eight, with dark brown hair. He was wearing an old band t-shirt and dark jeans, and he looked Castiel up and down curiously.

“I’m sorry, I might have the wrong house. I was looking for…?”

“Ben, what have I told you about opening the door without me?”

Heavier footsteps sounded behind the boy, and suddenly Dean was there too. He looked at Cas open mouthed, concern and worry crossed his face in an instant. Finally, he spoke.

“Er, Ben. This is Castiel, my… friend. Cas, this is Ben.”

Dean stared at Cas, and after a few seconds had past, the boy, (Ben, Cas corrected), looked up at Dean and tugged on the bottom of his t-shirt.

“Aren’t you going to invite Cas in, Dean?” Dean looked down and smiled softly at Ben. It was the same expression he’d worn when he’d been on the phone for the first time yesterday, and something clicked in Cas’ memories. This must have been who he was talking to at the picnic.

“Of course. Would you like to come in Cas?” Dean smiled at him now. Cas thought about it. This was a lot of information to take in, in a very short amount of time, and it left him with more questions than answers. But he’d been the one to turn up here, he couldn’t very well now make excuses to leave. He took a determined step forward, and the man and the boy moved out of his way.

“Can I take your basket?” Ben asked politely. Cas looked down, he had forgotten that he carried anything.

“Thank you. The cookies are for you. And I’m sorry about the wine.” He passed it over with a grin at Ben. He looked back at Dean, who looked between Castiel and Ben with something like amazement on his face. Ben looked at Dean expectantly, before shaking his head in seven year old despair.

“Dean, take Cas’ coat” he stage-whispered. Dean seemed to come back to himself.

“Sure. Cas, can I take your coat?” Cas shrugged off his trench coat and handed it over to Dean. He now felt more than a little silly in shirt and tie, compared to the other two in old t-shirts and jeans. Ben looked him up and down and smiled broadly.

“I like your tie. It’s very blue.” With that, he scampered away. Dean reached over and flipped Cas’ tie round the right way.

“I like your tie too.” Cas smiled, but it quickly faded.

“Talk fast Dean. Are you married?” Dean shook his head.

“D-I-V-O-R-C-E-D?” Cas spelt it out in case Ben came back into hearing range. Dean shook his head again.

“W-I-D-O-W-E-D. Ben is my step-son, but his father is a bastard who didn’t want to know after Lisa died, so he ended up stuck with me.” Dean answered quietly, sadly, not wanting to meet Cas’ eyes.

 “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, it just seemed like a lot to take in, and we said we’d keep it light…” Dean trailed off as Cas put a finger to his lips.

“I understand. I’m not here for long. If you want me to go, I understand. I shouldn’t have come here without checking with you first.”

Suddenly Ben was behind them again, and Cas quickly dropped his hand.

“Dean, is Cas going to stay for hot chocolate?” Dean suddenly grinned at both of them, and grabbed Cas’ hand.

“Cas can stay for hot chocolate, if Cas would like to stay.” Cas grinned back at him, suddenly feeling lighter than he had since he was sat on the picnic blanket eating pie with Dean yesterday.

“I love hot chocolate.”

A short time later, they were all sat around the table with mugs of steaming hot chocolate in front of them, and Cas looked around, admiring Dean’s beautiful kitchen. It was almost the size of his at home, but a lot more homely. It looked lived in and loved, with photographs covering every surface that wasn’t work top, and drawings and report cards stuck to the refrigerator. Many of the pictures were of Ben and a woman that Cas assumed was his mother Lisa. Some of the pictures were just Ben and Dean, and some were of the three of them. The pictures where Ben looked mostly the same as he did now, were almost exclusively Ben on his own. There were some pictures of Dean and a taller man, with longer hair, often laughing together – his brother, Cas realized. He studied those pictures with more interest now, putting a face to the voice and to the man who was currently staying in his house.

“Dean, I only have four marshmallows” Ben pouted as he looked into his cup.

“No you don’t, you have five. I counted them myself.” Dean looked over to Cas.

“I gave you five too”.

“Thank you Dean.” Cas smiled into his mug.

“Can we show Cas the fort next?” Ben asked Dean. He shook his head.

“I’m sure Cas doesn’t want to be crawling into tents at this time of night” Cas looked over at them both, tilting his head in confusion.

“He does, don’t you Cas?” Ben looked at him with pleading eyes, and Castiel chuckled.

“I’d be honored if you would show me your fort”. Ben smiled and started bouncing up and down in his chair impatiently as the two adults finished their drinks. As soon as Dean put his mug down after his last mouthful, Ben was out of his door and running towards the stairs. He paused at the bottom and looked back to them.

“Come on then!” Both men stood up with a groan and followed at a more sedate pace. They followed Ben into a large room, with a teepee made out of a sheet and some long sticks arranged in the middle. Ben dropped to his hands and knees and crawled through the entrance. He must have flicked a light on because stars suddenly started circling on the fabric and through the hole in the top onto the ceiling. Dean looked at Cas and beckoned.

“After you” he smirked. Cas also dropped to his hands and knees and crawled into the tent. He found Ben lying on his back on one side of the teepee, and flopped down next to him. Dean crawled in behind him and lay on Cas’ other side so that he was in the middle. They lay there peacefully for a few minutes, watching the stars.

“Did you make the fort Ben?” Cas asked softly.

“Dean and I made it together. We make lots of things, like pie, and cookies, and kites, and photos, and forts” Ben gave a happy little wriggle as he described the things that he and Dean did together.

“I like your fort.”

“I like you Cas. And Dean obviously likes you too, you make his eyes go all crinkly when he looks at you.” Dean made a choking noise on Cas’ other side, obviously trying not to laugh at the words that Ben had said so seriously. He took Cas’ hand and entwined it with his.

“Kids can always tell” he whispered quietly, and Cas just nodded, knowing that Dean would feel the movement as they were so close together.

A short while later, they were back in the kitchen again - with a glass of wine this time - after Dean had managed to persuade Ben to go to bed. They both sat quietly, considering the events of the evening. They both ended up starting to talk at the same time.

“I am sorry I didn’t…”

“I’m sorry I just…” They both laughed nervously and stopped talking to let the other go.

“You go first” Cas said quietly.

“I am sorry I didn’t tell you. I know what you must have thought when I got calls from random guys yesterday, but hoped you’d put it down to business or something.”

“I did Dean” Cas stated, not wanting to admit the suspicious thoughts that had plagued him. His next question gave him away though.

“Who’s Michael though?” He aimed for a casual question, but Dean gave him a look to tell him he hadn’t been fooled.

“Michael is Ben’s grandfather, Lisa’s Dad. He stays with his grandparents every other weekend, which is usually the point that I go to the pub and end up round at Sam’s, as this weekend proved.” Cas nodded his understanding.

“It’s funny, my brother is called Michael. I don’t talk to him anymore. He’s a prejudiced ass-butt though, so it’s not really any loss.”

“Ass-butt?” Dean queried with a choking laugh.

“Don’t laugh, it’s a thing.” Cas whacked Dean lightly on the arm, and then winced in pain as his wrist sent shooting pains down his arms. Dean grabbed his hand and held onto it, looking at his knuckles.

“I thought I saw you were in pain earlier. What did you do?” Dean brushed a thumb softly over the back of Cas’ hand, holding it softly so as not to jar his wrist.

“Erm, I punched Balthazar and broke his nose.” Dean looked at Cas in amazement, and he just shrugged, as if it was something he did every day.

“He was trying to get me to go home, saying that you were telling me lies, and saying that you would only break my heart.” Dean’s grip on his hand tightened, and Cas was just about to complain when Dean let out a long breath and the tension eased. He bought Cas’ hand to his mouth and kissed it gently, before placing it back on the table, standing up, pulling Cas into him in a bear hug.

“I wish you’d let me do it for you, then you wouldn’t have got hurt.” He whispered in his ear.

“I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. You now know all of my secrets, and I can’t break your heart as you’ve promised not to fall in love with me.” Dean’s soft breath at his ear was sending shivers all the way through him. Dean’s whispers went a long way to heal the wounds in his heart that Balthazar’s words had made earlier. He turned his face up to Dean, and joined their lips together in a long, lingering kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the twist with Ben, I made him a bit younger then canon, as this fit in more with the film and I loved the way this scene went in the film. 
> 
> Hope the fluff and cuteness in this chapter makes up for the pain of the last chapter. We'll be back to Sam & Gabriel in the next chapter and it will be mostly back to sweetness and fluff, I promise. 
> 
> I'm not sure I'll manage to post a chapter tomorrow - i'm really sorry! I will definitely manage one on Friday, and maybe two depending on how the day goes.


	10. Sam

Sam woke slowly the following morning, feeling more rested then he had in a long time. For a brief blissful moment before he opened his eyes, he forgot where he was, and waited for the noise of Jessica climbing the stairs in their cottage to bring them both coffee to drink in bed before they started their day. He opened his eyes, and the memory faded away like a thief in the night. He slowly came back to himself, and realised where he was. He whipped his head round.

“Gabriel?” He realised that he was in bed alone, still fully dressed. He got up slowly, stretched, and changed into sweat pants and a t-shirt, needing to feel comfortable and not constrained. He padded down the stairs, checking rooms as he went. When it became clear he was alone in the house, he went into Cas’ studio and curled himself into one of the chairs, wondering if Gabriel coming in and comforting him in the middle of the night had been a dream. Maybe he had dropped him home and left.

He was still feeling slightly numb, the after effect of the anxiety meds he had taken when he got home. It wasn’t as bad as it often was though, and he was able to look back over the rest of the time at Disneyland with a smile. Having started at the beginning of the day and worked his way through it, he began to edge his memories towards the carousel. Everything since seeing the Carousel felt fuzzy round the edges. Very carefully, he thought about what had triggered him, using the technique his therapist had taught him.

He edged towards the memory of Jessica at a winter fair the year before she died, sat side saddle on a white horse with a golden mane and tail. As he was able to think about that without the grief knocking him over, he delved deeper into the memory. He was on the next horse with a black mane and tail, and they were both laughing, Christmas songs were playing in the background, and the rest of the world was going past in a blur. Every so often Sam would catch sight of Ben and Dean waiting for them on the side, with Ben waving at them excitedly. They both waved back and then went back to looking at each other as the carousel slowed and came to a stop. Sam had hopped off of his horse, stepped over and lifted Jessica from hers. They had walked off of the ride hand in hand, and re-joined Dean and Ben.

Sam slipped from the memory, and found that he was smiling. It was good that he had remembered that. The ache in his stomach had loosened somewhat, and he was sure he wouldn’t be triggered by this memory again. He thought again to himself that Jessica would be glad that he had come to LA and was enjoying himself. She would be glad that he had made a friend in Gabriel. As his heart skipped a little at thinking Gabriel’s name, he stopped to consider. Gabriel was more than a friend. Two men who were just friends didn’t share a kiss like the one they’d shared two nights ago. Generally didn’t walk hand in hand at Disneyland, or share a bed and be comforted by the arm of the other around their shoulders and a gentle kiss on the head (although Sam was still not convinced that wasn’t a dream). Was he ready for something more? Could he allow himself to get close to someone again?

The noise of the door to Cas’ studio opening startled him from his reverie, and he turned. Gabriel stood there, smiling and holding two red paper cups.

“Morning sleepy head. I went out to get us some coffee, I was hoping you wouldn’t wake up, it seemed like you needed the sleep.” Gabriel smiled at him. Sam smiled back shyly, getting up and walking over to him, suddenly feeling self-conscious and slightly naked despite being fully dressed. Gabriel had seen him at his weakest, filled with despair and panic, and he had chosen to stay, had looked after him and then bought him coffee the next morning. He could have left and never returned, but he had chosen to come back.

“Thank you Gabriel.” Sam stuttered out, staring into those golden eyes. He meant for the coffee and for everything else too, but he didn’t have the words yet to explain that, to explain what his company and support meant to him. Gabriel’s eyes softened, and Sam thought that he somehow knew what Sam meant.

“I hope you like Gingerbread Lattes topped with whipped cream, cos that’s all I got. I didn’t know if you’d want a big dollop or a little dollop so I got one of each… well hellooo big dollop!” Gabriel finished with a grin as Sam reached out and took the cup with the biggest swirl of cream on top. He took a mouthful of the coffee, and Gabriel did the same. When Gabriel took the cup away from his mouth, he had the biggest cream and coffee foam moustache that Sam had ever seen. Sam giggled, then looked slightly shocked at that noise coming out of his mouth.

“Er, Gabriel, you have a little something…” Sam gestured with his hand over his mouth.

“Oh right, sorry”. Gabriel wiped the tiniest corner of his mouth, completely missing the whole mess. Sam laughed out loud, paused for the briefest second to think ‘am I going to do this?’ The ‘yes’ came as he was already moving. He wrapped his arms around Gabriel with his coffee still in his hand, and proceeded to kiss away the moustache. Gabriel squeaked slightly, before wrapping his arms around Sam and standing on his tip toes to reach his mouth more easily and returning the kiss.

They broke apart a few minutes later, both breathing a bit more heavily, but kept their arms wrapped around each other.

“Do you have work today?” Sam asked softly, dreading that Gabriel might have to leave him, but the other man shook his head.

“Apparently Balthazar isn’t back, so still no filming for me. Apparently they’ve heard from him now though, he just decided to up and travel to England, nobody knows why. He might be back tomorrow but they’re not sure. Apparently he sounded a bit muffled on the phone and he was calling from a hospital so no one is really sure what’s going on.”

“I was just thinking I might have a day on the sofa with Cas’ DVD collection. Would you stay and watch some with me?”  Sam asked, crossing his fingers behind Gabriel’s back. Gabriel bought his hand without the coffee cup in it back from around Sam’s waist and rummaged into his jacket pocket.

“I guess it’s a good job I bought this then” he commented, pulling out a packet of microwavable popcorn. Sam laughed and pulled away from him, sipping his coffee again. He grabbed Gabriel’s wrist with his spare hand and pulled him towards the living room.

Despite Castiel’s huge DVD collection, there wasn’t much up to date stuff, and so Gabriel suggested they go to the local Blockbusters to see if they had anything they wanted to watch. Sam mocked Gabriel for having a membership card – had he never heard of Netflix? Gabriel sniffed haughtily and told Sam that it wasn’t the same.

“Should I put some proper clothes on?” Sam asked, looking down at his t-shirt and sweat pants. Gabriel eyed him.

“You look hot to me” he shrugged.

When they got to the store, they flicked through the DVD’s together occasionally pulling things out to show each other. Gabriel pulled out the Terminator DVD and showed it to Sam.

“Such a great actor” Sam choked a laugh.

“Really?”

“What?” Gabriel asked. “I’ll be back” he said loudly, in a perfect Schwarzenegger accent. “Three words, and you have a perfect villain that everyone recognises. I’ll have a catch phrase one day.” He pulled another DVD from the rack and brandished it towards Sam.

“Life is like a box of chocolates” he said, the voice perfect, although so loud people looked over at them. “Say that to pretty much anyone and they’ll tell you what film it’s from.”

“Expelliarmus!” He yelled next, and Sam tried to shush him whilst still laughing hard as the guy at the till looked up at them and frowned.

“Am I embarrassing you with my game Samsquatch?” Gabriel said, now even louder, and tickling him in the side, causing Sam to double over gasping.

“Oooh, ticklish are we? I’ll remember that one for later.” Gabriel relented with an evil grin. At that moment, Sam’s cell went in his pocket.

“Hi Dean”

“Hi Sammy. How you feeling?” Dean sounded worried on the other end of the phone, and Sam immediately felt guilty for not calling sooner.

“Good Dean, surprisingly good I guess.”

“Did that Gabriel guy get you home ok?” Sam looked over at Gabriel standing a few feet away. He was carefully not looking at him, but Sam could tell he was listening intently.

“Yeah, Gabriel got me home and took care of me. He never left actually.”

“Sam you sly dog!” Just then, Sam’s phone beeped to indicate a call waiting.

“Oh Dean, can you hold, someone else is calling me”. Dean huffed.

“I suppose so, but hurry back so you can tell me everything” Sam laughed and pressed the button on his phone to switch the calls.

“Hello?”

“Hello Sam, it’s Castiel”

“Hi Castiel! How’s everything going at the house? I feel a bit sorry for you actually, you’re place is so amazing, mine must seem a bit small!” Sam laughed and was glad to hear Castiel laugh back with him.

“No, your place is perfect, idyllic in fact.”

“That’s great. I’ve got my brother on the other line, would you mind just holding a sec whilst I get him to ring me back?”

“You’re talking to Dean? How is he?” Cas asked eagerly.

“I don’t know, we didn’t really get that far. You’ve obviously met then?” Sam asked, as Gabriel looked at him with a grin.

“Yeh we’ve met. I don’t mind waiting while you speak to him.” Sam switched calls again.

“Hi Dean, sorry that was Castiel.”

“You were speaking to Cas? How is he?” Sam tilted his head, feeling confused and more than a little bit suspicious.

“ _Cas_ just asked how you were.”

“And what did you say?”

“I asked him to hold. Can I call you back?”

“I’ll hold while you speak to him.”

“Ok…” Sam said, switching calls again. “Castiel, my brother wants to know how you are.”

“Oh really?” Castiel replied, clearly pleased. “Can you tell him that I’m good, I’m just doing some painting at the moment. What has he been up to, did he say?”

“I don’t know, do you want me to ask him?” Sam said, his patience starting to wear thin.

“Sure” Sam pressed the button.

“I can’t believe you are having sex with the man who is staying in my house!” Gabriel as well as most of the other people in the store looked at Sam and Gabriel burst out laughing.

“Wait, what?” Castiel replied “That’s not true, we’ve kissed a bit, but we haven’t…”

“Oh my God!” Sam exclaimed in horror. “Sorry Castiel, I thought I was talking to Dean. Please hold.”

“I thought I told you that he’s just had a bad break up. What are you doing kissing him?”

“Still me” Castiel said dryly. Sam swore loudly, which had Gabriel laughing even harder.

“I’m sorry. I must have lost my brother at some point in all of the call swapping.” He tried to calm down a bit and batted a hand at Gabriel to stop him laughing.

“Is everything ok though? Is Dean erm… looking after you?”

“Yes Sam, you’re brother has most definitely looked after me.” Cas replied with a smile.

“How are you finding everything in LA? Made any friends? Balthazar mentioned you’d met Gabriel?”

“Yes, I’ve met Gabriel. You’ve seen Balthazar?” Gabriel’s ears pricked up at this.

“Yes, although I’m afraid it didn’t go well, and he ended our encounter a little more… damaged… then I think he expected.” Castiel sounded embarrassed, so of course Sam had to ask.

“What happened?”

“I… may have broken his nose…” Castiel replied, sounding half proud and half appalled at his behaviour. Sam burst out laughing, he couldn’t wait to tell Gabriel.

“Well, I hope things are ok with you and Dean. It was good to speak to you.”

“Thank you Sam, and you too. Goodbye.”

“Bye Cas”

Sam quickly told Gabriel what Castiel had just told him, and they both clutched on to each other as they laughed until they cried, understanding why Balthazar’s voice had been muffled when he spoke to someone on set, and wondered aloud what would happen to the filming and how much make up he would need to cover it up.

When they got back, they sat on the sofa as they had a couple of nights before - with Gabriel sitting in between Sam’s legs, resting his back to his chest. They’d decided on a Game of Thrones marathon, and settled in with the popcorn being passed between them in a bowl. Sometimes they would feed themselves, and sometimes they would feed each other. When that was finished and the bowl was on the floor, Gabriel began to run a hand over Sam’s hip and the outside of his thigh. Sam only realised that his t-shirt had ridden up when cool hands trailed over his bare hip bone, and he shivered. He blew softly onto the back of Gabriel’s next in revenge, and the other man also shivered in response. Sam leant forward and kissed the neck in front of him.

“You’re being very distracting you know”. Gabriel murmured.

“You started it.” Sam muttered against his neck.

“True.” Gabriel replied, rolling over onto his knees so that he was facing Sam. He leant forward and kissed him. Sam tilted his head and slid his tongue along Gabriel’s lips. He opened them slightly to allow him entrance, slipping his tongue to meet him. Sam reached out to pull Gabriel closer to him, when the other man broke the kiss, and moved away from him to sit on the other end of the sofa. He still faced Sam, clasping his hands around his knees, but Sam looked at him quizzically as he paused the DVD.

“I am falling for you hard and fast Sammy.” Sam’s breath hitched in his throat.

“I could quite easily rip those clothes off of you and do things to you that would make you beg for more.” Sam raised his eyebrows, and met Gabriel’s smirking gaze with a question in his eyes.

“But I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to break you into any more pieces then you already are. I would rather be the one to put you back together, but I can’t do that if I don’t know why you’re broken.” Sam went very still at these words, and Gabriel noticed his sudden stress.

“Of course, you don’t have to tell me anything, you don’t owe me anything. And if you tell me to shut up and go back to kissing you, I will, no questions asked. We can have an amazing holiday fling, and then you’ll go back to England, and we’ll think of each other for a while and then move on with our lives. But I want you to know that I really like you Sam. You’re funny, and dorky, and really really hot. And I would like it to be something more than a holiday fling.”

Sam took a deep breath. He felt like he was standing on the edge of a cliff. He shut his eyes for a moment, and he was back in the peaks of Derbyshire, looking down into the valleys below. Jessica was stood with him, and he turned to look at her. She gave him a huge, dazzling smile, and then vanished. Sam took a step forward and prepared to jump. He opened his eyes and looked at Gabriel, who was still watching him, looking nervous. He took another breath and started to tell their story.

“I had a high school sweet heart. Her name was Jessica. We went to College together, did our law degrees together. We bought our cottage together when we got our first jobs out of law school. We were going to get married…” He looked up at Gabriel who just nodded encouragingly.

“It was the middle of winter, she’d gone round to a friend’s house for the evening, and she was driving back late at night” He told Gabriel about the cop turning up, about having to be the one to identify her body as her parents were out of town. He told him about seeing Jessica’s killer and being unable to stop himself, how he had thrown himself at the man who was little more than a boy, and punched him in the face, once with each hand, before he was pulled back and restrained by the two cops who had come and told him what had happened. He met Gabriel’s eyes again, expecting judgement and disgust at his violence, but he only saw understanding and a little bit of anger at what the man had done.

Sam carried on, his voice a croak now, telling Gabriel about how he had broken down at the funeral, how the year following had been the worst in his life, how he had shut down and given in to the depression and anxiety that had kept him in the house for weeks at a time. He told him about how his brother had picked him up, had recommended him a grief counsellor, the same one he had used a couple of years before. How it had felt like Dean was the only one who knew what he was going through because he had lost Lisa a few years before hand. How he had felt guilty over accepting Dean’s help because he had Ben to look after, how he felt stupid because Dean had been left in a much worse situation when Lisa died, but he had coped better than Sam had.

He spoke of how he had crawled his way out of the pit with the help of the therapist, with the techniques she had taught him. How he had begun to feel something like himself again, although for a long time he felt as though his soul was missing. How things had gotten better and better, and he was able to think of Jessica without breaking down completely. How it had been months since his last anxiety attack, and he was starting to think maybe he was cured. But then he’d seen the carousel yesterday, and it had bought back memories that just hit him in the stomach like he had been punched.

“I’m sorry I ruined our day Gabriel.” Sam said finally. “I’m sorry that I was so sad in your happy place.” His voice broke on this last sentence. Gabriel had sat very still whilst Sam was speaking, his face carefully kept expressionless as he let Sam get everything out. Now though, he threw himself back down the sofa, grabbed Sam and hugged him tightly.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, and to Jessica. I’m sorry I took you somewhere that ended up hurting you. I meant what I said, I never want to hurt you.” He murmured into Sam’s chest.

“You couldn’t have known” Sam replied, wrapping his arms around Gabriel. “I hope you’ll take me back at some point. Maybe one day we could even go on the carousel together. We might have to work up to it, but I feel like I could do it with you.” Gabriel kissed his chest, before looking up at him and smiling.

“I’d love to take you back to Disneyland some day”.

“Do you think they’d let me back in after you had to escort me out? I probably looked like I was drunk” Sam asked, only half joking. Gabriel shook his head with a laugh.

“That’s nothing, there was this one time when it was the staff Christmas party…” Gabriel launched into a story about the time he had gotten really drunk and had accidentally thrown up on the shoes of one of the girls who played Cinderella, who had shrieked and he’d been punched by her boyfriend who ironically played Eric, the prince for the Little Mermaid. He’d had to be escorted out by a couple of his friends who had then also covered for him the next day at work whilst he had laid in bed groaning, with the worst hang over ever. All of the tension ebbed out of the room, and Sam was soon laughing again as well.

As Gabriel finished his story, Sam looked down at him in amazement. He knew he still had a long way to go, but this man was already making him feel more whole then he had since that Cop had turned up at his door. Gabriel might be holding him together with glue and sticky tape at the moment, but Sam had a feeling that if this carried on, he might be able to remove the tape at some point and he wouldn’t fall apart again. Gabriel blushed at the look in Sam’s eyes, and raised an eyebrow in a question.

“I jumped off a cliff, and I’m so happy that you were the one to catch me.” Sam said, very softly. Gabriel’s eyes widened a fraction, and Sam leant down to press his lips against the man who was keeping him together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow can't believe we're at chapter 10 already. I could keep going and going with this, but I think we will have one more Destiel chapter and then an epilogue. Thank you for carrying on with me.
> 
> I might not manage to get a chapter out tomorrow (Saturday), but I will update as soon as I can.
> 
> I love kudos and comments!! :)


	11. Cas

Castiel put his cell back on the table and held his head in his hands. He couldn’t work out what he had said to make Sam think that he’d slept with Dean, but he was slightly flattered that Sam had wanted to protect him from his brother. He picked up his phone again and rang Dean’s number.

“Hey Cas”, Dean answered.

“Hello Dean. I thought it might be easier to talk directly without Sam acting as a go between.” Castiel said, smiling.

“You’re probably right. I shoulda just called you really. Was Sam good?” Dean asked.

“Yes, he seemed to be. He did jump to quite a big conclusion though.”

“Oh?”

“He thought we’d slept together. Well, he thought he was talking to you and he said ‘I can’t believe that you’d had sex with the man staying in his house’”

“Oh my god” Dean said, his voice sounded muffled and Cas thought maybe he’d put his head in his hands too. “I’m so sorry; my brother has never known when to keep his mouth shut. What did you say?”

“I told him he was incorrect of course.” Cas replied.

“Oh.” Dean sounded quite disappointed.

“I of course didn’t tell him that I am hoping to rectify that at some point, if you were in agreement. I didn’t think you’d want your brother to know that.”

“Of course I’m in agreement” Cas could hear that Dean was grinning now. “I guess I should probably take you out for dinner first though.”

“Well, you have already taken me on a winter picnic, which probably counts. Dinner however, would be amazing.”

“I’ve got Ben for the next few days, but maybe we could go out on Christmas Eve?” Dean offered, and Castiel couldn’t help but feel a jump of excitement and nervousness in his stomach.

 

As Castiel got ready on Christmas Eve, he thought back over the last few days since he’d spoken to Dean on the phone. He had gone back up into the peaks twice more to finish the painting he had started with Dean. He had also finished the other painting he had started, the one he had decided to give Dean for Christmas. He had wrapped it, and it now sat waiting on the kitchen table.

The Saturday before Christmas Eve, he had received a surprise text from Dean inviting him round to make mince pies with him and Ben. Ben had opened the door already covered head to toe in flour, and Cas walked into a house that smelt of citrus, cinnamon, and Christmas. Dean kissed him chastely on the cheek as he had entered the kitchen, and the same smell also clung to his skin. Added to the usual Dean smell that Cas had never been able to describe, Cas only wanted to get closer and was disappointed when he moved away. Cas had helped Ben to cut out the circles of pastry, and carved tiny leaves out of the left overs - which Dean had been very impressed by – as Ben and Dean filled the pastry cups. Dean had brushed them with egg and sprinkled icing sugar on them before placing them in the oven. A few minutes later they had sat down at the table and were eating a pie straight from the oven with a spoonful of cream on top.

He’d spent the next couple of days shopping, buying Christmas presents for Anna, his agent Pamela and a couple of other friends from home, as well as small gifts for Ben and Sam. He’d tidied and cleaned the cottage in preparation for his departure the day after Christmas Day. Although he was only planning to spend the day alone, he had decided he didn’t want to be doing chores on Christmas.

By the time Dean arrived to pick him up on Christmas Eve, he had been pacing the cottage nervously. When he saw the Impala lights shine through the living room windows, he nearly ran out of the front door and down to the gate. He climbed quickly into the passenger seat, clutching the wrapped picture to his chest.

“Hey” Dean said quietly as Cas got into the car. He leant over and kissed him gently; just a soft touch of lips that felt as if it had been part of their routine for a very long time.

“You smell amazing” Dean whispered in Cas’ ear as he pulled away, causing him to shiver. He eyed the present that Cas was clutching. “What’s that?” He asked.

“You’ll have to wait and see” Cas replied mysteriously.

“Oh, like that is it? I guess you’ll have to wait and see what that is too” He nodded his head over his shoulder towards the back seat. Cas looked and saw a similarly sized and shaped package on the back seat, wrapped in brown paper with red twine around it.

As they sat down in the restaurant and the waitress handed them their menus, Cas had his first opportunity to properly see Dean for the first time that evening. He was wearing a smart black shirt over black jeans instead of his usual plaid shirt and t-shirt combination. He looked very smart, and very hot, as proven by the way the waitress’ eyes had lingered over his back as she had shown them to their table. Cas had glowered at her, but she had pretended not to notice.

They both put their menus down at the same time and looked at each other over the candle in the middle of the table.

“Is it time to trade gifts yet?” Dean asked eagerly. Cas nodded, pulled his from underneath his chair and passed it over. Dean picked his up too and Cas took it from him. They both began to unwrap slowly, trying to watch the other one at the same time. They eventually got down to the gift, and immediately forgot to watch the other as they were stunned by what they saw.

Dean had given Cas a photograph printed onto a canvas board. It was a stunning view over the peaks as the sun was setting. Cas himself was sat in the foreground, with his back to the camera, in his trench coat, and his own canvas board on his lap. The colors in the photograph were beautiful, and they seemed to be reflected into the picture Cas was painting as if they had melted straight into it from the land around him. Cas couldn’t stop looking at it, until he heard Dean speak.

“There is no way this is me” he breathed as he looked at Cas’ gift. Cas had continued the painting he had started almost by accident when he had painted Dean’s green eyes onto a canvas without really thinking about what he was doing. He had ended up painting Dean as if he were a regency lord, his real life Mr. Darcy.

“Do you like it?” Cas asked, and Dean looked up at him, seeming a little awe-struck.

“I love it.” Dean responded. “What about yours?” He nodded down to the picture Cas was still holding.

“I love it so much. I’ve never seen a photograph before that looks so much like a painting. Thank you Dean”. Dean beamed at him. They ordered their meals from the waitress when she eventually returned.

“I have a question for you Cas” Dean commented after she left. “I know you might already have plans tomorrow, but I wondered if you might like to help me out. I’m photographing a wedding, and thought you could come along, hold my tripod, and see me at work?”

“I would love that. I thought you’d be spending the day with Ben?” Dean shook his head.

“Ben’s with his Grandparents for Christmas. I dropped him off this morning. So you’ll come?” Dean’s grin widened impossibly as Cas nodded.

As they returned to the car after a perfect meal, Dean caught Cas’ hand before he could slide into the passenger seat. He flipped him around and pressed his back against the car, stepping in against him and kissing him deeply and passionately. He leant down and nibbled against his neck as Cas raised his face to the stars glimmering in the night sky above him, and took a gasping breath.

“Would you like to come back to mine for a nightcap?” Dean whispered against his neck.

“Try and stop me” Cas whispered back as he tilted Dean’s face back towards him and kissed him again.

 

The next day, Dean drove Cas back to the cottage so that he could change out of the jeans and Led Zeppelin t-shirt Dean had lent him, and into something more appropriate to attend a wedding. They arrived at the venue a short time later; an old thatched inn, a sign above the door with ‘The Roundhouse’ hand painted above it in swirling gold writing. Dean started to get his cameras and accessories out of the boot of the car, and started to attach them to a utility belt around his waist. Cas watched him, slightly amused to see him looking so professional in a suit and tie, with a camera hanging from each hip, and small pouches attached that contained everything from spare memory cards to tissues and stain remover cloths in case they were needed by the wedding party.

“I’m Batman” Dean stated, patting his belt as he added the final things. Cas just raised an eyebrow at him. “What? I am!” Dean laughed. He pulled two single rose heads out of the trunk and pinned one onto Cas’ lapel, and one onto his own. He corrected Cas’ tie and brushed over his shoulder with a hand before stepping back to look at him.

“Perfect” he said, and held out his hand. Cas took it and they moved inside.

They walked into the main room which was set up for the ceremony. There were about twenty or so chairs, all pointing towards a grand fire place at one end of the room. There were a handful of people milling around already, and an older, bearded man stood in front of the fireplace, looking extremely nervous, and slightly uncomfortable in his obviously hired suit. Dean tugged Cas down the aisle, keeping hold of his hand.

“Hey Bobby, how you doing? Feeling nervous?” Dean came to a stop in front of the fireplace and addressed the pacing man.

“What do you think Dean? Do I look like a man whose calm?” Bobby replied sarcastically. Dean punched him lightly on the shoulder.

“Everything’ll be great. This is Cas. He’s helping me today.”

“Good to meet ya.” Bobby said gruffly.

“Bobby’s a good friend of my Dad’s, they served over here together, and he often looked after me and Sam if my Dad was out on deployment and he was still here.” Cas smiled widely at Bobby and detached his hand from Dean’s in order to shake hands with the groom. Dean wandered away to take some detail shots, and Cas thought about following, but Bobby looked like he needed company so he stayed where he was.

“So, have you known Dean long?” Bobby eyed Cas, and he blushed slightly.

“Not long, only a couple of weeks. I swapped houses with Sam” he explained.

“Oh, you’re that one. I knew Sam had gone to LA, Dean told me why he couldn’t come today.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize” Cas apologized, but Bobby shook his head.

“It’s probably for the best. He would have found today very hard.” Cas nodded. Dean had briefly told him about what had happened with Jessica. Faint music began to play, and Bobby paled even more, if that was even possible.

“I think that’s my cue” Bobby said, as an official looking woman with a folder walked down the aisle, asking everyone to take their seats. Cas went to stand by Dean, who was stood at the back facing the door. The music changed, and a young blonde woman in a deep blue bridesmaid dress walked through the door, holding a small bouquet. She walked down the aisle, grinned at Bobby and stood on the opposite side facing back towards the door. An older woman with grey-streaked brown hair walked through the door, in a plain but beautiful cream dress, with lace detail on the sleeves. She was clutching a bouquet of bright red roses as if it was the only thing keeping her together, and walked slowly past Cas and Dean and down the aisle. Cas turned back to look at Bobby, the sound of Dean’s camera clicking away in his ear. Bobby looked absolutely stunned as he watched his future wife walk down the aisle. When she reached the bottom, she passed her bouquet to her bridesmaid, and took each of Bobby’s hand in one of hers.

Bobby and his new wife walked up to Dean in the drinks reception after the ceremony.

“Ellen, this is Cas. Cas, this is Ellen, Bobby’s new wife. Man does that feel strange to say!” Dean took Cas’ hand as he introduced them.

“Ellen owned the bar in the old army camp, and my Dad and Bobby used to drink there. They were both married when they met, but they both met again about 20 years later and fell in love.”

“That is such a lovely story!” Cas exclaimed. Bobby and Ellen grinned foolishly at each other.

Later in the evening, after Cas and Dean had enjoyed the wedding breakfast (Cas had been pleasantly surprised to be included), Ellen’s Bridesmaid came up to where they were sat relaxing as Dean had taken all of the shots he’d needed to. “Hey, I’m Jo”, she introduced herself to Cas before Dean had chance to speak. “Do you mind if I borrow Dean for a dance? I’ll bring him back to you safe and sound I promise.” Cas nodded with a smile.

“And you can tell me all about this hotty…” Cas heard Jo whisper to Dean as she dragged him away.

At the end of the night, Dean pulled up outside of Cas’ cottage. Neither of them wanted the night to end.

“Can I see you in the morning before you go?” Dean asked quietly.

“You could stay over if you wanted?” Cas offered, and Dean smirked at him.

“I thought you’d never ask”. They got out of the car and walked down the short path together, hand in hand.

The next morning, Cas stacked his bags by the front door and turned back to Dean who was sat at the kitchen table. He was trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. He had known this was a limited time thing, he had promised Dean that he wouldn’t fall in love with him, and he was determined that he would leave without making it any harder on either of them. Dean sat at the table looking completely dejected as he nursed his cup of coffee.

“I know we said we’d keep it light, but I think I attached some weights along the way” he muttered.

“I know.” Cas replied, resting a light hand on his shoulder. “But we can keep in touch, and then if you’re ever in LA, or if I ever come back to paint here again, we can get together. There’s email, and text, and skype. We’ll see each other again.”

Dean nodded but didn’t look convinced.

“So that’s why I’m not going to say goodbye. I’m going to say see you again, and hope that one day, we will.” Dean stood up, and hugged Cas tightly. He eventually let go with a sigh. Cas put a hand to Dean’s face and looked deep into those bright green eyes.

“See you again.” He kissed him softly, then turned and walked away, picking up his bags and walking out of the front door, just hearing Dean’s quiet “See you” as he shut the door behind him.

It was only when the road began to blur in front of him that he realized that he was crying. The sick feeling was almost overwhelming now, and he pulled over to the side of the road. He put a hand to his chest, and he could almost feel his heart breaking. ‘Dammit’ he thought to himself. ‘This was not supposed to happen. I have fallen in love with a beautiful man who lives thousands of miles away, who has so many ties here that there is no way he could ever leave, and he wouldn’t leave anyway for just a holiday fling.’ He beat his head gently against the steering wheel. ‘But I don’t have any ties’ he realized. ‘I can paint anywhere. I could fly back for shows.’ He suddenly thought to himself that he didn’t really know how Dean felt, and he was getting ahead of himself. But, maybe they could make something of this.

He turned around in the road and drove back to the cottage. He burst back through the front door, and found Dean sat at the table again, a single tear running down his cheek. He looked up at Cas as he entered the kitchen, and wiped a hand across his cheek, such hope crossing his face, that Cas almost felt his heart break again. He stood up and staggered over and grabbed Cas around the tops of his arms.

“What on earth are you doing back here? Did you forget something?” Dean looked deep into his eyes.

“Yes. I did forget something. I forgot you.” Dean’s eyes brightened and he leant forward and gave him a desperate kiss. He pulled away.

“I love you” Dean said breathily.

“I love you too” Castiel replied with a huge smile, feeling the pieces of his heart seam back together again. They kissed again, breathily, beginning to pull at each other’s shirts.

“So, I thought maybe I could stay until New Year’s? And then we can see what we can work out between now and then?” Dean’s hands stilled.

“I have Ben on New Year’s Eve” He looked up at Cas, worry clear in his eyes.

“That sounds perfect” Cas whispered in reply as he leant forward to kiss Dean’s neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was delayed in posting. Hope it was worth the wait though. I am hoping to also get the epilogue up today.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the cameo appearances of Bobby, Ellen and Jo.
> 
> Thank you for everyone still reading, it means a lot to me!


	12. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Journey's End in Lovers Meeting" - Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare

It was New Year’s Eve, and Castiel had spent the afternoon helping Dean and Ben prepare the party food for the party that evening. When all of the food was on the kitchen table, he went upstairs to change whilst the other two sorted out drinks. He’d put on his suit trousers and shirt, with the blue tie he’d worn the first time he met Ben. He’d moved his stuff over to Dean’s house the weekend after Christmas Sam had decided he wanted to come back from LA even if Cas wasn’t ready to go back yet.

A lot had changed since Christmas day. Dean and Cas had talked, and talked and talked some more, both trying to get their heads around their new relationship and what it meant for the way they had been living their lives. The only thing they did know was that they didn’t want to go back to how things were, living without each other on different continents. They had decided that a long distance thing would be too difficult - they had gotten used to having daily contact and didn’t want that to change. Dean had offered to move to LA, but had looked so upset at the idea of Ben only seeing his grandparents once or twice a year that Cas knew that wasn’t an option. He had immediately suggested that he move here, buy a house, and fly back for work if he needed to. It was an easy thing to offer now that he knew that Dean wanted him to stay. The only thing that did cause him a slight pang of regret was thoughts of his beautiful studio. However, Dean had looked so relieved and happy that Cas knew he was making the right choice, and he could always find or build another studio.

The conversation with his agent hadn’t been quite so simple. Pamela was initially concerned and faintly suspicious; pointing out just how fast this all was and that only a month ago he’d been quite happily settled living in LA with Balthazar and had been building up a very successful business. Did he really want to change all of that? Cas had gone into such detail about how much this actually wouldn’t change anything, and he could still take commissions, meet clients, and he actually might manage to expand his business into new markets, and so on and so on. She had eventually given in and conceded that he had obviously put a lot of thought into how it would work, and she would do everything she could to make it work from her end, as long as he promised to come and visit her regularly. And maybe she could come and see him in England too? He had agreed eagerly, and they had ended the conversation both excited about the new opportunities this change could bring.

He had contacted Anna who had been extremely supportive, pointing out in her sarcastic way that the flight times between New York and LA, and New York and the UK weren’t that different, so they would probably still not see each other from one year to the next. Cas silently decided that whenever he could, he would stop over in New York when he had to fly back, and he would make the clients pay for it if he had to. He would also take Dean and Ben over there to meet her at some point. Ben would love New York.

Dean and Cas had sat Ben down together and had a conversation with him to let him know that Cas would probably be around a lot more and check that he was ok with that.

“You could stay in my room and we could push the beds together if you wanted”, Ben had offered, when Cas had told him that he was moving to England. He had seemed disappointed when Dean had said that Cas would be getting his own place.

“You mean you’re not staying forever?” He had pouted slightly. Dean had looked at Cas speculatively, but they had agreed that they should live separately for a while just in case something changed when it wasn’t just a short holiday fling with a deadline at the end of it.

“Maybe I will one day. But for now, maybe you could come and look at some new places with me and help me find the best one?” Cas had offered, and Ben had begun to bounce up and down excitedly. Dean had smiled broadly at both of them.

The doorbell rang, and brought Cas back to himself. He heard Ben run to open it, with Dean not far behind.

“Uncle Sammy, Uncle Sammy!” He shouted, and Cas left Dean’s bedroom and walked to the top of the stairs just in time to see a very tall man with long brown hair pick Ben up and swirl him around. Cas began to walk down the stairs, and Sam put Ben down, so he scampered off to carry on playing with the new cars that had been his Christmas present. Sam looked up at Cas and held a hand out to shake when he got to the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey, you must be Castiel” He said, with a wide easy smile.

“Good to finally meet you in person Sam, please call me Cas.” Sam nodded and ducked his head.

“Man, your house in LA was amazing. I don’t know why you’d give that all up for my dumb-ass brother” He punched Dean lightly on the top of his arm. Dean just grinned back at him foolishly. A faint cough sounded behind Sam, and a much shorter man stepped out from behind him.

“Sorry Gabe” Sam said. “Dean, Cas, this is Gabriel. Cas, I don’t think you’ve met but he came to the house to pick up He Who Shall Not Be Named’s stuff, they worked together on the Christmas film.” Gabe stepped forward with an easy smile and shook Dean and Cas’ hands.

“Yeah, we wrapped on that film yesterday, and I’m glad to be out of it.” He clapped a jovial hand on Cas’ shoulder.

“So, I hear I’m not the only crazy bastard to have fallen in love with a Winchester and decided to give up LA for the gorgeous English weather!” He eyed the mist outside with disgust.

“You’re moving over here too?” Dean asked in surprise, looking at Sam for confirmation. He nodded, and looked slightly sheepish. Dean walked over to Gabe and draped an arm over his shoulders, guiding him towards the kitchen.

“I think you and I need to have a conversation about your intentions with my little brother Sammy”.

“Well, my intention was to carry on fucking him regularly if that’s ok with you. Oh, and taking him back to Disneyland on a regular basis” Gabriel replied, with a huge grin. Sam blushed scarlet and looked at Cas, who just shrugged with a small grin, and followed the pair into the kitchen, Sam following behind him.

The rest of the night went without a hitch. All four men got on like a house on fire, and Ben was always included as well, much to his delight. He dozed off on the couch about 10:30, after Cas had promised to wake him up for midnight. Even Bobby and Ellen - having got back from their honeymoon - and Jo had arrived for a drink and to hear for themselves what the brothers had been up to, but they had all been delighted that the Boys had finally found themselves in love again, even if they hadn’t met in the most conventional of means. They had left again about 11, wanting to celebrate midnight and the start of a new year at the Roundhouse, which Jo and her friend Ash had been looking after whilst they were away.

Cas woke Ben up at Midnight, and they had all gone outside so that they could see the fireworks that would light up the village. They had begun to countdown as Dean looked at his watch.

“5…4…3…2…1… Happy New Year!” They all shouted together. Fireworks began to burst over hear, and Ben watched them, mesmerised.

“Happy New Year Dean” Castiel murmured as Dean took him in his arms.

“I’m so glad I met you Castiel” Cas shivered as Dean used his full name, before kissing him deeply.

“It’s 2015 Sammy! It’s a new year, a new country. I left the gentleman in me back in the US, I hope that’s ok” Gabriel grabbed Sam around the neck and pulled him down to his level, kissing him soundly, as Sam nodded eagerly.

 

**The Epilogue’s Epilogue**

****

Gabriel moved in to Sam’s cottage straight away. He got a number of roles in films in the UK, but the Christmas movie with Balthazar was released at the end of 2015 and was a bigger hit than expected, and he was soon in demand back in LA. Sam and Gabe therefore moved over there together, and they are both now annual passholders at Disneyland. Sam can even ride the carousel now, but always sends a loving thought to Jessica when he does.

 

    

It only took three months for Dean to get sick of Cas having to leave every so often to go home, and demanded that Cas move in with him officially - which Ben agreed with wholeheartedly. Cas was glad that he didn’t have to keep two wardrobes any more, and began to plan an extension for a studio at Dean’s house. He never got chance to see his ideas come to life though, as the following year Ben’s grandparents both passed away. Dean decided that he was missing his brother and thought that Ben was at a point in his education that changing schools wouldn’t have such a big impact and that he would benefit from a change. He also knew that it would be easier for Cas’ business if they moved to LA, so that is what they did. They bought a new house together, which already had a large out building which became Cas’ studio. Dean built a successful photography business out of wedding and baby photo shoots for celebrity clients that Gabriel sent his way.

 

Sam had kept his cottage in England, so they often took it in turns to take a trip back to Derbyshire. Cas had the opportunity to paint the Peaks in every season, and Dean had the opportunity to make him summer and winter picnics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to those of you that have gotten this far with me. 
> 
> This is the end of the fic, however I am planning two short snapshots to follow on so that we can check in on our boys and see how they're getting on a couple of years after the point where The Holiday ends. My plan is to publish one on Christmas Eve, and one on New Years Eve. I hope you will check back and read these.
> 
> The Ben and Dean GIF comes from this post: http://heroes-get-made.tumblr.com/post/70354270436/cheer-up-post-661-dean-lisa-ben-edition
> 
> Happy Holidays to you all!!


	13. Christmas, 2017

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Everyone!

Sam ran up the stairs of his cottage in Derbyshire, taking them two at a time. He knocked on the door to the master bedroom and stuck his head into the room. Dean was still stood in front of the mirror, checking his appearance for the hundredth time and rearranging his hair minutely.

“Are you ready?” Sam asked. He moved into the room, Ben right behind him. Dean turned to them both then looked down at himself. He was wearing a long black tailcoat, a waistcoat, and a deep blue bow tie. He started to fiddle with his cuffs, feeling very uncomfortable. He looked at Sam and Ben and the fact they were both wearing the same - although they had white bow ties not blue – did not make him feel any better.

“It’s a good job I love the guy otherwise I would never be wearing this ridiculous outfit. Why did he choose it?” Dean said with a sigh. Sam smirked at him.

“Beats me. You do look good though.” Ben nodded eagerly behind him.

“Thanks. You both look great really. I guess I’m just…”

“Nervous” Sam finished for him, and Dean nodded.

“Well, we should have left ten minutes ago, and you don’t want to keep Cas waiting.” Dean had started to look a little green around the edges, but at Cas’ name he brightened, remembering why he was wearing this monkey suit and strode towards Sam. He gave his brother a huge hug, slapping his back before he wrapped one arm around Ben and led him from the room.

Dean drove to the venue in the Impala and Sam had attached white ribbons to the bonnet. Sam sat in shotgun, and Ben perched in the back. They had the music up as loud as they could and they all did air guitar to Bohemian Rhapsody as they stopped at a set of lights, Dean singing along extra loudly to try and keep the nerves at bay. They eventually pulled up at the inn with the thatched roof and ‘The Roadhouse’ written in swirling gold letters over the entrance. Dean smiled as he remembered the last wedding he had been to here. There were candles in vases on either side of the door, and there was a huge Christmas tree in the lobby as they walked through the door.

Bobby was there waiting for them, dressed in a tux and looking only slightly more comfortable then he had on his own wedding day. He clapped Dean on the shoulder then pulled him in for a hug.

“You’re late boy!” He exclaimed. Dean pulled away and grinned back at him.

“What else is new?” He asked. Ellen bustled over to him, wearing a dark blue pant suit. She also gave him a hug before turning and giving Ben a hug to as Sam was hugging Bobby. She turned away and came back with a box with three boutonnieres. They were flowers, but they were made out of paper – specifically, old copies of Jane Austin novels. Ellen pinned Dean’s to his jacket, who then took Ben’s and pinned his in turn. Bobby fixed Sam’s to his lapel, then patted his shoulder.

“Your turn next boy” he said, smiling widely as Sam blushed slightly.

“You try making an honest man out of Gabriel. It’s not the easiest thing in the world!” Sam exclaimed and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.

“We’d better go and sit down” Bobby muttered to Ellen, who nodded.

“We’ll go sit down, then you follow us in when the music changes ok?” She said to Dean, who smirked at her.

“Yes Mother” he replied sarcastically. She swooped over to him and gathered him in to another hug.

“Your Mom and Dad would be so proud of you today” she whispered in his ear, sounding slightly choked up, before she pulled away. Dean felt his own eyes fill at the thought of his parents, but he blinked hard to clear them. He smiled at her as she looked up at him, and nodded slightly.

She took Bobby’s hand and they took their seats in the ceremony room. The music changed from a string quartet version of Metallica’s One that had been playing quietly in the background, to a version of Hey Jude that he’d chosen as a tribute to his mom, and recognised that was his cue. Sam through the door and walked down the short aisle first, grinning at everyone sat in the room, and then took his place standing to one side of the officiant, leaving space for Dean and Ben.

Dean took a deep breath, took hold of Ben’s hand and they walked down the aisle together, Dean was too terrified to smile at this point, but Ben looked around and smiled at everyone, who smiled back at him. Ben gave Dean a quick hug as they reached the end of the aisle, and moved to stand in front of Sam. Dean remained in front of the officiant, and fiddled with his cuffs again nervously, waiting for the music to change again.

***

Cas had been stood at the top of the stairs in the lobby for at least an hour before Dean had arrived. He’d been unable to sleep very much the night before his wedding, and so had been ready very early. He was wearing a matching suit to Dean, also with a deep blue bow tie, which he kept fiddling with until Gabriel came over and batted his hands away, adjusting it for him so that it sat perfectly. Gabriel had stood with him then, both watching just the lobby below them as guests began to arrive. Cas had seen everyone at the rehearsal dinner the night before, but it was still nice to watch them all enter the ceremony room now.

Anna had been amongst the first to arrive, in a deep green dress that went perfectly with her red hair. Cas had longed to go down and greet his sister, but wanted to make a grand entrance later, so restrained himself. His agent Pamela, her husband and two boys had been next. A small group of Dean’s friends from school were next, followed by a couple of the friends they had made since they’d moved to LA who had decided to make the trip over to the UK.

Finally, Dean, Sam and Ben had arrived. Cas had let out a breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding as his husband to be had walked through the door. He felt all of the tension leave his body, to be replaced by excitement. Gabriel seemed to sense the change in Cas’ mood and grinned at him, punching him lightly on the arm. Cas smiled back without looking at Gabriel, unable to take his eyes from the gorgeous man in the blue bow tie below him. Dean looked just like the regency version of himself that Cas had painted that first Christmas, and Cas was glad that he had insisted on these suits even though he knew Dean would be feeling a little uncomfortable.

He watched as they pinned the boutonnieres onto each other, and looked down at his own and then at Gabriel’s. They had been his idea, given there is such a limited choice of flowers here in the middle of Winter, and he liked including a nod to the books that had been his inspiration in choosing Derbyshire in the first place. Bobby’s words about Sam being next floated up to them, as did Sam’s reply, and Cas nudged Gabriel in the ribs, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.

“I’ve got a plan” Gabriel muttered back in response to the non-verbal question.

Ellen and Bobby finally made their way into the ceremony room, and Cas tuned into the music playing, waiting for the change that would be Dean’s cue. He finally heard it, and watched Sam, and then Dean and Ben walk into the room, before moving down the stairs. Someone had shut the door behind Dean after he had passed through it, but he could still just about hear the music.

The music morphed again, into the song ‘Angeles’, and the door opened again. All of the heads in the room were facing his way, craning their necks to see him. Gabriel walked through the door first, and Cas saw him wink at Sam, who beamed back at him. He was looking very smart in his black tux and white bow tie. He and Sam hadn’t wanted to wear the same thing, so Cas had allowed his best man to stick to a standard tux rather than the full tails combination the other men in the wedding party were wearing.

After Gabriel had reached the bottom of the aisle, and stood on the opposite side of the officiant to Sam, Cas moved through the door. He gave a slight nod to the photographer who was waiting behind it.  Dean had been reluctant to hire another photographer, tempted to try and take the pictures himself until Cas put his foot down. They’d spent months looking for someone that matched Dean’s style and talent, but they had found someone they were happy with in the end.

As he walked down the aisle, he looked around and smiled at those who had come to see him and Dean get married. As he got to the halfway point, he finally looked at Dean. The other man met blue eyes with his green ones, and Cas couldn’t quite believe the love and admiration that shone from them. He only hoped he was showing the same depth of emotion from his, as he was certainly feeling it.

He finally got to the front and stood opposite Dean and in front of the officiant. He stared at him for a few seconds, unsure whether he could take his hands, or kiss him as he wanted too. Dean didn’t seem to share his qualms though. He grabbed Cas and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, kissing him deeply. There were a few chuckles from the chairs, and they heard the officiant give a polite little cough.

“You’re supposed to wait until after you’re married guys” Sam’s voice drawled beside them, and they broke apart, grinning sheepishly at each other. They clutched their hands together between them, not wanting to lose contact completely.

“Ladies and Gentleman. We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Castiel Novak, and Dean Winchester. Now they have managed to keep their lips from each other, we’ll begin” The officiant announced to the room.

First, they will each speak their vows to each other, and then we will get to the legal section of the ceremony. Now, who is going first?” She looked at both men, sighing slightly when they were both to busy looking into each other’s eyes to answer her. She consulted the folder in her hands.

“Dean?” She asked. He started, and looked at her.

“Would you like to speak your vows to Castiel?” He nodded.

“Castiel” Den started. “I loved you from the moment I stumbled into the rose cottage and saw you napping on the couch. Never have I been so glad to hear that someone wasn’t my brother’s boyfriend.” He smirked over his shoulder at Sam.

“You promised not to fall in love with me, but I’m so glad that you broke that promise. I will make you some promises now that I won’t break. I promise to love you forever, until we’re old and grey. I promise to look after you when you get so into your painting that you forget to eat and drink. I promise to go to every gallery in the world with you, even when all I can do is admire the colours in the paintings because I don’t get the composition or whatever.” Cas smirked at him.

“I love you so much, and I’m glad to become your husband.” Dean finished softly, looking at the sea of blue in Cas’ eyes. The officiant nodded gently.

“Castiel?” she asked.

“Dean. I didn’t want to fall in love with you. I was worried about how complicated it would be. And we haven’t had the easiest ride. But falling in love with you was the easiest thing I have ever done. You’re the reason I get up in the morning, the reason I carry on painting. You’re my muse, my sun, my moon and stars. I love you with all of my being, and I love the family we’ve created.” He looked over to Ben and Sam and smiled at them.

“I love you, and I will stand beside you for the rest of our lives.” He finished, and looked at the officiant, who nodded again.

“Dean and Castiel will now light their unity candle.” She moved aside to reveal a small table behind her, three lit candles in front of a much larger candle set on top of it. Dean and Cas both picked up a candle each, and Dean beckoned to Ben who walked around and stood in between them, picking up the final candle and grinning at them both hugely. They all held their candles against the wick of the larger candle, watching as it flickered into light. Ben moved away and returned to his place in front of Sam, as Dean and Cas faced each other again and held their hands together.

“Who has the rings?” Sam pulled a small black box out of his pocket and handed it to Dean. Gabriel made a big show of patting down the pockets of his jacket and looking horrified, before locating a matching box in his trouser pocket, and breathing an over exaggerated sigh of relief before handing it to Cas. They both removed the rings from the boxes and handed them back to each man.

“Dean, if you place your ring on the fourth finger of Castiel’s left hand, and repeat after me.”

“I, Dean Winchester, do take you, Castiel Novak to be my lawfully wedded husband” Dean repeated the words as he passed the ring down Cas’ ring finger.

“I, Castiel Novak, do take you, Dean Winchester, to be my lawfully wedded husband” Cas repeated the words after the officiant and pushed the ring into place on Dean’s hand.

“I am now proud to announce, that you are husband and husband, married until death do you part.” The officiant said, raising their joined hands above their heads.

“You may now kiss your husband!” She announced, and Cas threw his arms around Dean and kissed him thoroughly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, one more snapshot to come on New Years Eve.
> 
> Just some notes on some of the wedding details:  
> These are the boutonnieres I was thinking of: http://fiftieswedding.com/favourite-alternative-buttonholes/4618770662_a542abd855/
> 
> Vitamin String Quartet do amazing string versions of classic rock songs, you-tube example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDGMlbT3VZg&list=PLxSN9LpbVVqgC0nZ9tvYdDhcp0JnFJzL0&index=11   
> They also do a version of Carry On My Wayward Son, which is what I like to think they would have walked out too.
> 
> I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas.


	14. New Year 2017

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is a whole week later then I said it would be. The holiday season got on top of me! Hopefully you will still want to read it and it will add a little sweetness to a slightly miserable week back at work / school.
> 
> It's is so fluffy. I'm so so sorry.

It was 11pm on New Year’s Eve 2017, and Sam and Gabe were trying to make their way down Main Street in Disneyland. Having only returned from Dean and Cas’ wedding a couple of days before, they had been planning a quiet New Year’s at home, but all of a sudden a couple of hours ago, Gabriel had announced a desire to watch the Disneyland fireworks at Midnight, and nothing Sam could say would dissuade him.

Main Street was extremely busy, and Sam hadn’t been sure they would be able to get in as he knew the park often filled to capacity on New Year’s Eve. He had gone to tap his pass against one of the turnstiles when Gabriel was suddenly pulling on his arm and guiding him towards a smiling cast member who had just opened a gate for them and waved them through.

They entered the crowds on the other side, they parted slightly for Sam due to his height, but he kept a tight hold of Gabriel’s hand so he didn’t lose him. They got about half way down Main Street when Sam suddenly felt an insistent tugging from Gabriel, who was pulling him towards the pathway between ‘Carnation Café’ and ‘Gibson Girl Ice Cream’. Sam was about to object that they would miss the fireworks if they stopped to eat, when Gabriel stopped in front of a non-descript door. Sam looked at him questioningly, but Gabe only grinned back up at him mischievously and pulled a key out of his pocket. He unlocked the door, pulled Sam quickly through it, and locked it behind them.

“You have to shut your eyes for this next part.” Gabriel whispered. “Only cast members are strictly allowed back here. Wouldn’t want you ruining the magic by seeing Cinderella in her underwear or something now would we?” He snickered, and Sam just looked at him feeling more and more confused. Gabriel sighed theatrically and pulled a blindfold from his pocket. Sam suddenly realised that this wasn’t a trip that his boyfriend had only just decided on an hour ago. A flicker of suspicion crossed his mind, but he decided to go with it. They were in the happiest place on earth, it’s not like Gabriel was going to do something to hurt him.

He bent his knees, so that Gabe could stretch up and put the blindfold onto him. He grasped him firmly by the hand and started to guide him down the corridor. Sam tried to keep track of directions but soon gave up as he was led through the twists and turns of the cast member tunnels that run underneath Disneyland. They obviously passed other people at times, as Gabriel would often mutter a ‘hi’ and get one in return, but they didn’t stop and there was very little other noise except for the buzz of the parks and occasional burst of music or ride noise.

Finally, Sam heard another door open and then close behind them. He could tell they were now outside again, but he had no idea about where in the park they could be.

“Bend down Gigantor” Gabriel said suddenly, startling him slightly. He bent his knees obligingly, and the blindfold was removed. Sam gasped as the scene before him was revealed. They were in a tiny walled courtyard, covered in glittering fairy lights in amongst trailing roses which were growing along the walls. The top third of Cinderella’s castle could be seen behind the wall, and from the angle Sam guessed they were somewhere in Fantasyland, but he had no idea where. In the middle of the courtyard was a table laid for two, with a red plaid table cloth and a candelabra in the middle reminiscent of Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast.  Along to one side another table was set up with a small chocolate fountain, surrounded by bowls of marshmallows, strawberries and graham crackers. Sam finally turned to look at Gabriel who was still standing in front of the door.

Sam choked and then laughed in surprise as he took in the picture. Gabriel had somehow managed to get changed as he had led him through the corridor, and was now regaled in a blue prince charming suit, complete with ruffles in his collar and a lace handkerchief in his jacket pocket. He bowed lavishly at Sam, one arm slotting neatly behind his back, and he swirled the other as he bent forward over one knee. He was grinning as he stood straight again, although Sam thought he detected a hint of uncharacteristic nervousness as if Gabe wasn’t sure what his reaction would be.

“You look gorgeous” Sam finally admitted after staring at him for a few more seconds. “I feel underdressed”.

“Funny you should mention that” Gabe smirked, and pulled the door open again. On the back of it hung a black tuxedo complete with shirt, and Sam could see shiny black shoes tucked into the corridor behind.

“You can get changed behind the door. No-one will be along here for at least an hour” Gabriel said, beckoning Sam towards him. Sam took a couple of steps and leant down to kiss his boyfriend on his way past.

“You’re amazing” Sam commented as he broke their kiss. He walked back into the corridor and pulled the door shut behind him, feeling suddenly slightly shy about getting changed in front of Gabriel, which was slightly ridiculous as they’d been living together for nearly three years. He changed quickly, folding his t-shirt and shorts neatly and leaving them on the floor. Gabriel had thought of everything, there were socks in his shoes, and a matching bowtie and silk square in his pocket.

Fully dressed again, he emerged from the corridor to find Gabriel sat at the small table. He looked at him and smiled with such love and adoration in his gaze that Sam found himself blushing. He strode to the table and sat down, his knees clashing against Gabriel’s. Gabriel slipped his hand into Sam’s larger one and just smiled at him goofily, until Sam cleared his throat and looked at him questioningly. At this point, Gabriel jumped up and went over to the chocolate fountain and began to dip marshmallows into the running chocolate, ignoring the wooden sticks in favour of his fingers. Sam watched for a few minutes before giving in and going to join him. He selected a strawberry using a stick and dunked it into the chocolate before taking a careful bite.

“You know that’s not the best way to do it” Gabriel stated, watching him with amusement.

“I don’t want to get chocolate on the tux” Sam countered.

“But that’s no fun” Gabriel pouted, sticking another marshmallow into the flowing chocolate and offering his fingers up towards Sam’s mouth. Sam raised an eyebrow and bent his head to take the treat, making sure to slightly suck the ends of the proffered fingers as he did so, making Gabriel gasp slightly. Sam felt Gabriel’s thumb brush gently across his top lip, leaving a wet feeling behind.

“Oh no I appear to have got chocolate on you” Gabriel said sarcastically, before wrapping both hands around his neck and dragging Sam’s face down to his and licking the chocolate away before moving his lips against Sam’s in a deep kiss. Sam almost managed to forget the fact that Gabriel’s hands had still been slightly covered in chocolate and he was going to have it all around the back of his neck. He would just have to make Gabriel clean him up later.

Eventually, they’d had their fill of the chocolate fountain and returned to sit at the table where they wiped each other down with napkins. Gabriel checked his watch, looking suddenly nervous.

“Got a hot date?” Sam asked with a smile. Gabriel looked up at him with wide eyes.

“The hottest” he aimed for a grin but seemed to miss slightly, causing Sam to look at him with concern.

“Is everything ok?” Gabriel nodded, starting to look slightly green around the edges. Sam wondered if he’d eaten too much chocolate, and began to worry a bit about the suit he was wearing.

“Everything’s fine. Everything is more than fine. I had this whole speech worked out, that I practiced in the mirror and everything, but now this is really happening, I can’t remember any of it. And I think we’re running out of time anyway…”

“Gabe…” Sam murmured, horribly confused by now. Gabriel just put a finger to his lips as he tilted his head to the side, listening. The soft beginning to the fireworks soundtrack began to play from beyond the wall. A few seconds later, a single golden firework streamed from castle and burst above their heads, and Sam watched it descend in a shower of golden sparks.

“Make a wish Sammy” Gabriel said softly, causing Sam to look back at him. Now that he knew he had Sam’s attention again, he slid from his seat and knelt next to Sam, pulling a ring box from his pocket as he did.

He opened it to reveal two thin silver bands, a single diamond set in the centre of each, flush with the metal.

“My Sam” Gabriel began as fireworks continued overhead, Sam just looked down at him in shock.

“I loved you from the first moment I met you. I know you have been thinking about asking me to marry you but were worried that I would run away. I want you to know that I will never run from you. Or anywhere in fact, it’s a stupid form of exercise” He shook his head as Sam sniggered.

“In the early days as I put your pieces back together, I left parts of myself with you, and we have grown together since then to be so intertwined that nothing would be able to tear us apart. I want it to stay that way for the rest of my life. But, I know you wanted to ask me the question, so I’m not going to take that away from you. As long as you do it **right now**.” Sam started suddenly as he realised what Gabe meant. He slid from his chair, and knelt in front of Gabriel, both men grinning at each other with tears shining in their eyes.

“Gabriel, will you marry me?” he took one of the rings from the box and offered it to Gabriel. He nodded, tears flowing freely now. He offered his left hand to Sam, who slid the ring neatly into place. Gabe then took the second ring from the box and placed it onto Sam’s ring finger. They both leant towards each other, Sam throwing his arms around his fiancé and kissing him soundly, as fireworks continued to cascade above their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> I have just posted another fic which I actually started before this, but I think it's going to be a long one so procrastinated slightly with The Holiday. It's a bit of a different style, it's set in the Supernatural universe starting with Lazarus rising from Castiel's perspective, then launching into a story where Sam and Dean have to save Death.
> 
> It's here if anyone would be interested:  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/3131627/chapters/6787490
> 
> Thank you for bearing with me and all of the comments and kudos :)


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